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CONTENTS

Brown, George T., executive secretary, AFL-CIO, standing commit-

tee on safety and occupational health, 815 16th Street NW., Wash-

ington, D.C.

Klarman, Emil G., vice president in charge of technical services,
Lehn & Fink, Inc. (accompanied by Robert L. Ackerly, Cummings,
Sellers, Reeves & Conner, 1625 K Street NW., Washington, D.C.) --

Larrick, Hon. George P., Commissioner of Food and Drugs, U.S.

Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, Washington,

D.C.

Markel, Michael F., Esq., Reddi-Whip Co., Munsey Building, Wash-
ington, D.C...

Merritt, James H., secretary, the Proprietary Association, 810 18th
Street NW., Washington, D.C. (accompanied by Dr. Frederick J.
Cullen, medical consultant, and William F. Weigel, of Rogers,
Hoge & Hills, New York, N.Y.) –

Osborn, James W., M.D., vice chairman, medical advisory committee,

American Petroleum Institute, 1625 K Street NW., Washington,

D.C. (accompaned by A. G. Taylor, counsel)

Peet, Roy W., Association of American Soap & Glycerin Producers,
Inc., 295 Madison Avenue, New York, N.Ÿ.
Savarese, Charles J., Jr., M.D., director, Suburban Hospital Poison
Control Center, Suburban Hospital, 8600 Old Georgetown Road,
Bethesda, Md. (accompanied by Dr. William F. Von Oettigen and
Mrs. Jane Angel, public relations director, Suburban Hospital)- - -

Walker, Nicholas M., administrative assistant to the president,

Pennsalt Chemicals Corp., 3 Penn Center, Philadelphia, Pa.

(accompanied by Dr. Thomas A. Nale, medical director of Union

Carbide Corp. and Dr. J. H. Sterner, head of medical department,

Eastman Kodak Co., Rochester, N.Y.)...

Statement submitted by-Riley, George D., legislative representative,
AFL-CIO, 815 16th Street NW., Washington, D.C...

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Panama Canal Company, dated August 11, 1959-
Post Office Department, dated August 11, 1959..

State Department, dated August 12, 1959-
Treasury Department, dated August 12, 1959..

HAZARDOUS SUBSTANCES FOR HOUSEHOLD USE

THURSDAY, AUGUST 13, 1959

U.S. SENATE,

COMMITTEE ON INTERSTATE AND FOREIGN COMMERCE,

Washington, D.C. The committee met, pursuant to notice, at 10:25 a.m., Hon. Vance Hartke presiding.

Senator HARTKE. The committee will come to order.

Ladies and gentlemen, today we are considering S. 1283. This bill would regulate the interstate transportation of packages of hazardous substances intended or suitable for household use. It was introduced by Senator Magnuson, chairman of this committee, and Senator Bush of Connecticut.

The legislation would establish rules of labeling, prohibit certain specified acts, and provide that a violation would be deemed a misdemeanor. First offenders could be fined up to $500, with continued violations punishable by imprisonment of not more than 1 year, a fine up to $3,000, or both.

Misbranded hazardous substances would be subject to seizure, and the enforcement of the legislation would be by the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare.

Our witnesses this morning could be termed experts in this field, and I am sure their testimony will be very helpful in the consideration of this measure.

(S. 1283 follows:)

[S. 1283, 86th Cong., 1st sess.]

A BILL To regulate the interstate distribution and sale of packages of hazardous substances intended or suitable for household use

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

TITLE

SECTION 1. This Act may be cited as the "Federal Hazardous Substances Labeling Act".

DEFINITIONS

SEC. 2. For the purposes of this Act

(a) The term "Territory" means any Territory or possession of the United States, including the District of Columbia and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico but excluding the Canal Zone.

(b) The term "interstate commerce" means (1) commerce between any State or Territory and any place outside thereof, and (2) commerce within the District of Columbia or within any other Territory not organized with a legislative body.

(c) The term "Department" means the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare.

(d) The term "Secretary" means the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare.

(e) The term "person" includes an individual, partnership, corporation, and association.

1

(f) The term "hazardous substance" means any substance or mixture of substances which is (1) toxic, (2) corrosive, (3) an irritant, (4) strong sensitizer, (5) flammable, or which (6) generates pressure through decomposition, heat, or other means, if such substance or mixture of substances may cause substantial personal injury or illness during any customary or reasonably anticipated handling or use.

(g) The term "toxic" shall apply to any substance which has the inherent capacity to produce bodily injury to man through ingestion, inhalation, or absorption through any body surface.

(h) (1) The term "highly toxic" means any substance which falls within any of the following categories: (a) Produces death within fourteen days in half or more than half of a group of ten or more laboratory white rats each weighing between two hundred and three hundred grams, at a single dose of fifty milligrams or less per kilogram of body weight, when orally administered; or (b) produces death within fourteen days in half or more than half of a group of ten or more laboratory white rats each weighing between two hundred and three hundred grams, when inhaled continuously for a period of one hour or less at an atmospheric concentration of two hundred parts per million by volume or less of gas, vapor, mist, or dust, provided such concentration is likely to be encountered by man when the substance is used in any reasonably foreseeable manner; or (c) produces death within fourteen days in half or more than half of a group of ten or more rabbits tested in a dosage of two hundred milligrams or less per kilogram of body weight, when administered by continuous contact with the bare skin for twenty-four hours or less.

(2) If the Secretary finds that available data on human experience with any substance indicate results different from those obtained on animals in the above named dosages or concentrations, the human data shall take precedence.

The term "corrosive" means any substance which in contact with living tissue will cause destruction of tissue by chemical action; but shall not refer to action on inanimate surfaces.

(i) The term "corrosive" means any substance which in contact with living tissue will cause destruction of tissue by chemical action; but shall not refer to action on inanimate surfaces.

(j) The term "irritant" means any substance not corrosive within the meaning of (i) which on immediate, prolonged, or repeated contact with normal living tissue will induce a local inflammatory reaction.

(k) The term "strong sensitizer" means a substance which will cause on normal living tissue through an allergic or photodynamic process a hypersensitivity which becomes evident on reapplication of the same substance and which is designated as such by the Secretary. Before designating any substance as a strong sensitizer, the Secretary shall find that the frequency of occurrence and severity of the reaction indicate a significant potential for causing hypersensitivity.

(1) The term "extremely flammable" shall apply to any substance which has a flash point at or below twenty degrees Fahrenheit as determined by the Tagliabue Open Cup Tester, and the term "flammable" shall apply to any substance which has a flash point of above twenty degrees to and including eighty degrees Fahrenheit, as determined by the Tagliabue Open Cup Tester; except that the flammability of the contents of self-pressurized containers shall be determined by methods generally applicable to such containers and established by regulations issued by the Secretary.

(m) The term "label" means a display of written, printed, or graphic matter upon or attached to the immediate package or container of any substance; and a requirement made by or under authority of this Act that any word, statement, or other information appear on the label shall not be considered to be complied with unless such word, statement, or other information also appears (1) on the outside container or wrapper, if any there be, unless it is easily legible through the outside container or wrapper and (2) on all accompanying literature where there are directions for use, written or otherwise.

(n) The term "immediate container" does not include package liners. (0) The term "misbranded package" means any container of a hazardous substance intended or suitable for household use which fails to bear a label

(1) which states conspicuously (A) the name and place of business of the manufacturer, packer, or distributor; (B) the common or usual name, or the chemical name or the recognized generic name (not trade name only) of the hazardous substance or of each component which contributes substantially to its hazard; (C) the signal word "DANGER" on substances which are extremely flammable, corrosive, or which (i) produce death within fourteen days in half or more than half of a group of ten or more laboratory white rats each weighing between two hundred and three

hundred grams, at a single dose of one gram or less per kilogram of body weight, when orally administered; or (ii) produce death within fourteen days in half or more than half of a group of ten or more laboratory white rats each weighing between two hundred and three hundred grams, when inhaled continuously for a period of one hour or less at an atmospheric concentration of two thousand parts per million by volume of gas, vapor, mist, or dust, provided such concentration is likely to be encountered by man when the substances are used in any reasonably forseeable manner; or (iii) produce death within fourteen days in half or more than half of a group of ten or more rabbits tested in a dosage of one gram or less per kilogram of body weight, when administered by continuous contact with the bare skin for twenty-four hours or less; (iv) if the Secretary finds that available data on human experience with any substance indicate results different from those obtained on animals in the above named dosages or concentrations, he may require the use of the signal word "DANGER" on such substance or permit use of the signal word "WARNING" or "CAUTION" on such substance; (D) the signal word "WARNING" or "CAUTION" on all other hazardous substances; (E) an affirmative statement of the principal hazard or hazards, such as "Flammable", "Vapor Harmful", "Causes Burns", "Absorbed Through Skin", or similar wording descriptive of the hazard; (F) precautionary measures describing the action to be followed or avoided; (G) instructions, when necessary, for the firstaid treatment in case of contact or exposure, if the substance is hazardous through contact or exposure; (H) the word "poison" for any hazardous substance which is defined as "highly toxic" by subsection (h); (I) instructions for handling and storage of packages which require special care in handling or storage; and (J) the statement "Keep out of the reach of children", or its practical equivalent, and

(2) on which any statements required under clause (1) of this subsection are located prominently and are in the English language in legible type in contrast by typography, layout, or color with other printed matter on the label: Provided, That the Secretary shall, by regulations, provide for minimum information which shall appear on the labels for small packages, which labels need not include all of the information required by this subsection: Provided further, That the Secretary may permit less than the foregoing statement of the hazard or precautionary measures for labels of hazardous chemical substances presenting only minor hazards; and the term "misbranded package" shall not apply to packages of economic poisons subject to the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act, nor to packages of foods, drugs, and cosmetics subject to the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act.

PROHIBITED ACTS

SEC. 3. The following acts and the causing thereof are hereby prohibited: (a) The introduction or delivery for introduction into interstate commerce of any misbranded package of a hazardous substance.

(b) The alteration, mutilation, destruction, obliteration, or removal of the whole or any part of the label of, or the doing of any other act with respect to a hazardous substance, if such act is done while the substance is in interstate commerce or while the substance is held for sale (whether or not the first sale) after shipment in interstate commerce and which results in the hazardous substance being in a misbranded package.

(c) The receipt in interstate commerce of any misbranded package of a hazardous subsance and the delivery or proffered delivery thereof for pay or otherwise.

(d) The giving of a guarantee of undertaking referred to in section 4(b) (2) which guarantee or undertaking is false, except by a person who relied upon a guarantee or undertaking to the same effect signed by, and containing the name and address of, the person residing in the United States from whom he received in good faith the hazardous substance.

(e) The refusal to permit entry or inspection as authorized by section 8(b). (f) A reuse of food, drug, or cosmetic containers still bearing original labels or identifiable as such by characteristic shape, impression, or closures as containers for hazarodus substances.

PENALTIES

SEC. 4. (a) Any person who violates any of the provisions of section 3 shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and shall on conviction thereof be subject to a fine

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