Summary of the Draft Ministerial Ordinance of Health, Labour and Welfare
for the partial revision of the Enforcement Regulation of Law for the Control
of Household Products Containing Harmful Substances
1. Outline of the Law for the Control of Household Products Containing Harmful Substances
(hereinafter “the Law“)
The purpose of the Law is to protect public health by exercising the necessary controls to
the household products that contain harmful substances.
From this viewpoint, the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare (hereinafter “the
Minister”) may designate the household products and prescribe the necessary standards for
the upper limit of content, dissoluble amount or vaporable amount of any harmful substances
listed in the Enforcement Regulation of Law for the Control of Household Products
Containing Harmful Substances (hereinafter “the Enforcement”).
2. Outline of the Revision of the Enforcement
Partial revision of the test method for Dibenzo (a,h) antholacene in the the Annex 1 in the
Enforcement
The desorption time in the split-less mode (hereinafter “split-less time”) has been stipulated
as one of the test conditions of the GC-MS. However, the stipulated test condition of split-less
time has less significance because individual equipment has their proper split-less time.
Therefore, the condition of split-less time will be deleted from the Annex 1 in the
Enforcement.
Partial revision of the test method for Formaldehyde in the the Annex 1 in the
Enforcement
In the formaldehyde standard for diaper, diaper cover, bib, underwear, pajamas, gloves,
socks, middlewear, outerwear, caps and beddings for 0-24 month-old infants, High
Performance Liquid Chromatograph (HPLC) test are stipulated to confirm the existence of
formaldehyde. Because the purpose of the HPLC test is not to confirm the volume of
formaldehyde, the quantitative index of formaldehyde in the HPLC test method will be
deleted from the Annex 1 in the Enforcement.
Furthermore, for convenience of HPLC test, the injection amount of the sample will be
stipulated as “10 μL” (At present, ”1 μL” is stipulated as the amount of the sample in Annex 1).