(a) Test protocols—
(1) General requirements—
As specified in § 1700.15(b), special packaging is required to meet the child test requirements and the applicable adult test requirements of this § 1700.20.
(ii) Condition of packages to be tested—
(A) Tamper-resistant feature.
Any tamper-resistant feature of the package to be tested shall be removed prior to testing unless it is part of the package's child-resistant design. Where a package is supplied to the consumer in an outer package that is not part of the package's child-resistant design, one of the following situations applies:
(1) In the child test, the package is removed from the outer package, and the outer package is not given to the child.
(2) In both the adult tests, if the outer package bears instructions for how to open or properly resecure the package, the package shall be given to the test subject in the outer package. The time required to remove the package from the outer package is not counted in the times allowed for attempting to open and, if appropriate, reclose the package.
(3) In both the adult tests, if the outer package does not bear any instructions relevant to the test, the package will be removed from the outer package, and the outer package will not be given to the test subject.
(B) Reclosable packages—adult tests.
In both the adult tests, reclosable packages, if assembled by the testing agency, shall be properly secured at least 72 hours prior to beginning the test to allow the materials (e.g., the closure liner) to “take a set.” If assembled by the testing agency, torque-dependent closures shall be secured at the same on-torque as applied on the packaging line. Application torques must be recorded in the test report. All packages shall be handled so that no damage or jarring will occur during storage or transportation. The packages shall not be exposed to extreme conditions of heat or cold. The packages shall be tested at room temperature.
(2) Child test—
(i) Test subjects—
Use from 1 to 4 groups of 50 children, as required under the sequential testing criteria in table 1. No more than 20% of the children in each group shall be tested at or obtained from any given site. Each group of children shall be randomly selected as to age, subject to the limitations set forth below. Thirty percent of the children in each group shall be of age 42-44 months, 40% of the children in each group shall be of age 45-48 months, and 30% of the children in each group shall be of age 49-51 months. The children's ages in months shall be calculated as follows:
(1) Arrange the birth date and test date by the numerical designations for month, day, and year (e.g., test date: 8/3/1990; birth date: 6/23/1986).
(2) Subtract the month, day, and year numbers for the birth date from the respective numbers for the test date. This may result in negative numbers for the months or days. (e.g.,
(3) Multiply the difference in years by 12 to obtain the number of months in the difference in years, and add this value to the number of months that was obtained when the birth date was subtracted from the test date (i.e., 4 × 12 = 48; 48 2 = 50). This figure either will remain the same or be adjusted up or down by 1 month, depending on the number of days obtained in the subtraction of the birth date from the test date.
(4) If the number of days obtained by subtracting the days in the birth date from the days in the test date is 16 or more, 1 month is added to the number of months obtained above. If the number of days is −16 or less, subtract 1 month. If the number of days is between −15 and 15 inclusive, no change is made in the number of months. Thus, for the example given above, the number of days is −20, and the number of months is therefore 50 − 1 = 49 months.
(B) Gender distribution.
The difference between the number of boys and the number of girls in each age range shall not exceed 10% of the number of children in that range. The children selected should have no obvious or overt physical or mental handicap. A parent or guardian of each child shall read and sign a consent form prior to the child's participation. (The Commission staff will not disregard the results of tests performed by other parties simply because informed consent for children is not obtained.)
(ii) Test failures.
A test failure shall be any child who opens the special packaging or gains access to its contents. In the case of unit packaging, however, a test failure shall be any child who opens or gains access to the number of individual units which constitute the amount that may produce serious personal injury or serious illness, or a child who opens or gains access to more than 8 individual units, whichever number is lower, during the full 10 minutes of testing. The number of units that a child opens or gains access to is interpreted as the individual units from which the product has been or can be removed in whole or in part. The determination of the amount of a substance that may produce serious personal injury or serious illness shall be based on a 25-pound (11.4 kg) child. Manufacturers or packagers intending to use unit packaging for a substance requiring special packaging are requested to submit such toxicological data to the Commission's Office of Compliance.
(iii) Sequential test.
The sequential test is initially conducted using 50 children, and, depending on the results, the criteria in table 1 determine whether the package is either child-resistant or not child-resistant or whether further testing is required. Further testing is required if the results are inconclusive and involves the use of one or more additional groups of 50 children each, up to a maximum of 200 children. No individual shall administer the test to more than 30% of the children tested in each group. Table 1 gives the acceptance (pass), continue testing, and rejection (fail) criteria to be used for the first 5 minutes and the full 10 minutes of the children's test. If the test continues past the initial 50-child panel, the package openings shown in table 1 are cumulative.
Table 1—Number of Openings: Acceptance (Pass), Continue Testing, and Rejection (Fail) Criteria for the First 5 Minutes and the Full 10 Minutes of the Children's Protocol Test
1 |
50 |
0-3 |
4-10 |
11 |
0-5 |
6-14 |
15 |
2 |
100 |
4-10 |
11-18 |
19 |
6-15 |
16-24 |
25 |
3 |
150 |
11-18 |
19-25 |
26 |
16-25 |
26-34 |
35 |
4 |
200 |
19-30 |
|
31 |
26-40 |
|
41 |
(iv) Test procedures.
The children shall be divided into groups of two. The testing shall be done in a location that is familiar to the children, for example, their customary nursery school or regular kindergarten. No child shall test more than two special packages. When more than one special package is being tested, each package shall be of a different ASTM type and they shall be presented to the paired children in random order. This order shall be recorded. The children shall be tested by the procedure incorporated in the following test instructions:
(3) Senior-adult panel—
(i) Test subjects.
Use a group of 100 senior adults. Not more than 24% of the senior adults tested shall be obtained from or tested at any one site. Each group of senior adults shall be randomly selected as to age, subject to the limitations set forth below. Twenty-five percent of the participants shall be 50-54 years of age, 25% of participants shall be 55-59 years of age, and 50% of the participants shall be 60-70 years old. Seventy percent of the participants of ages 50-59 and ages 60-70 shall be female (17 or 18 females shall be apportioned to the 50-54 year age group). No individual tester shall administer the test to more than 35% of the senior adults tested. The adults selected should have no obvious or overt physical or mental disability.
(ii) Screening procedures.
Participants who are unable to open the packaging being tested in the first 5-minute time period, are given a screening test. The screening tests for this purpose shall use two packages with conventional (not child-resistant (CR) or “special”) closures. One closure shall be a plastic snap closure and the other a CT plastic closure. Each closure shall have a diameter of 28 mm±18%, and the CT closures shall have been resecured 72 hours before testing at 10 inch-pounds of torque. The containers for both the snap- and CT-type closures shall be round plastic containers, in sizes of 2 ounce± 1/2 ounce for the CT-type closure and 8 drams±4 drams for the snap-type closure. Persons who cannot open and close both of the screening packages in 1-minute screening tests shall not be counted as participants in the senior-adult panel.
(iii) SAUE.
The senior adult use effectiveness (SAUE) is the percentage of adults who both opened the package in the first (5-minute) test period and opened and (if appropriate) properly resecured the package in the 1-minute test period.
(iv) Test procedures.
The senior adults shall be tested individually, rather than in groups of two or more. The senior adults shall receive only such printed instructions on how to open and properly secure the special packaging as will appear on or accompany the package as it is delivered to the consumer. The senior-adult panel is tested according to the procedure incorporated in the following senior-adult panel test instructions:
(4) Younger-adult panel.
(i)
One hundred adults, age 18 to 45 inclusive, with no overt physical or mental handicaps, and 70% of whom are female, shall comprise the test panel for younger adults. Not more than 35% of adults shall be obtained or tested at any one site. No individual tester shall administer the test to more than 35% of the adults tested. The adults shall be tested individually, rather than in groups of two or more. The adults shall receive only such printed instructions on how to open and properly resecure the special packaging as will appear on the package as it is delivered to the consumer. Five minutes shall be allowed to complete the opening and, if appropriate, the resecuring process.
(ii)
Records shall be kept of the number of adults unable to open and of the number of the other adults tested who fail to properly resecure the special packaging. The number of adults who successfully open the special packaging and then properly resecure the special packaging (if resecuring is appropriate) is the percent of adult-use effectiveness of the special packaging. In the case of unit packaging, the percent of adult-use effectiveness shall be the number of adults who successfully open a single (unit) package.
(b)
The standards published as regulations issued for the purpose of designating particular substances as being subject to the requirements for special packaging under the act will stipulate the percent of child-resistant effectiveness and adult-use effectiveness required for each and, where appropriate, will include any other conditions deemed necessary and provided for in the act.
(c)
It is recommended that manufacturers of special packaging, or producers of substances subject to regulations issued pursuant to the act, submit to the Commission summaries of data resulting from tests conducted in accordance with this protocol.
(d) Recommendations.
The following instructions and procedures, while not required, are used by the Commission's staff and are recommended for use where appropriate.
(1) Report format for child test.
(2) Standardized adult-resecuring test instructions.
CPSC will use the adult-resecuring test where an objective determination (e.g., visual or mechanical) that a package is properly resecured cannot be made. The adult-resecuring test is performed as follows:
(3) Report format for adult-resecuring test.
Code of Federal Regulations
[38 FR 21247, Aug. 7, 1973, as amended at 60 FR 37735, 37738, July 22, 1995]