Committee weighs fixes to lead-in-cookware law amid testing, enforcement disputes

The Senate Environment, Energy & Technology Committee heard testimony on Senate Bill 5,628, a proposed substitute that would refine last year’s restrictions on lead in cookware and cookware components. Alicia Kinney Clausen, committee staff, briefed members on the bill’s key changes: a 5 parts-per-million (ppm) limit for lead and lead compounds remains, but the bill narrows covered components to include utensils, griddles and other cooktop surfaces that contact food, excludes inaccessible components and large appliances, and provides manufacturers protections from liability for unknowingly selling restricted products.

Stakeholders urged further changes. Kevin Messner and Charlie Brown from industry groups said the statute’s current content-based 5 ppm standard could unintentionally ban widely…