China notifies WTO of revised national standards for limits on musical instrument hazardous substances 
China on August 16 submitted a draft of its national standards for limits on musical instrument hazardous substances to the WTO. The draft standards are a revision of China’s only standards for hazardous substances used in musical instruments — the “Limits of hazardous substances for musical instruments” (GB/T 28489-2012). The revision will make the current recommended standards mandatory.
The revised standards will limit the use of hazardous substances in plastic materials, heavy metals and hazardous volatile substances in musical instruments, their accessories and packaging of instruments used indoors; natural radionuclides in stone and ceramic instruments; and hazardous substances in electronic instruments. Formaldehyde, benzene, volatile organic compounds, soluble heavy metals, radionuclides and diisooctyl phthalate in plastics, etc. are considered key substances to be controlled.
Here is an overview of the important changes to the standards:
- Main changes
- The limits and measuring method description for phthalic acid esters are changed.
- Limits and measuring method description for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are added.
- The limits and measuring method description for transition elements are changed.
- The limits on formaldehyde, BTEX and total volatile organic compounds are changed.
- Limits and measuring method descriptions for aromatic amine dyes, tetrachlorophenol (TeCP) and pentachlorophenol (PCP) are added.
- A list of covered PAHs is added (Appendix A).
- A list of covered aromatic amines is added (Appendix B).
- Descriptions of measuring methods for formaldehyde, BTEX and total volatile organic compounds as well as a description of phenol reagent spectrophotometry are added (Appendices C and D).
- The table below shows the newly introduced limits on aromatic amine dyes, TeCP and PCP.
|
Substance |
Limit (mg/kg) |
| Aromatic amine dyes* used in textiles and paper-based materials | Prohibited |
| Aromatic amine dyes* used in leather and fur | Prohibited |
| TeCP used in textiles and paper-based materials | ≤ 0.5 |
| PCP used in textiles, paper-based materials, leather and fur | ≤ 0.5 |
| PCP used on wood that can be touched | ≤ 5 |
* Covered aromatic amines are listed in Appendix B to the standards.
The revised standards notified to the WTO will be officially published later before it comes into effect and replaces the current standards GB/T 28489-2012.
A summary of the draft for WTO notification (in English) is available at
https://docs.wto.org/dol2fe/Pages/FE_Search/FE_S_S009-DP.aspx?language=E&HasEnglishRecord=True&HasFrenchRecord=False&HasSpanishRecord=False&CatalogueIdList=276167,276168,276170,276175,276176,276160,276161,276162,276164,276183&CurrentCatalogueIdIndex=0&FullTextHash=371857150
NOTE:
On June 16, 2022, China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology released a new draft of mandatory national standards called Limits of Hazardous Substances for Musical Instruments to solicit public comments. The limits on aromatic amine dyes, tetrachlorophenol (TeCP) and pentachlorophenol (PCP) content newly introduced by the revision are stricter than the above WTO notification version of the standards. See more details in the following:
China releases draft mandatory standards for hazardous substance limits on musical instruments to solicit comments
