-Compliance Guide for the United States: An Overview of Laws and Regulations on Lithium Batteries

Compliance Guide for the United States: An Overview of Laws and Regulations on Lithium Batteries
author:enerbyte source:本站 click9 Release date: 2024-11-11 10:05:32
abstract:
Lithium battery products have potential hazards as they may catch fire or even explode. Defects in electronic products containing lithium batteries or the batteries themselves, overcharging, or overheating can all lead to accidents. Therefore, safety standards, regulations, and other requirements ha...

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Lithium battery products have potential hazards as they may catch fire or even explode. Defects in electronic products containing lithium batteries or the batteries themselves, overcharging, or overheating can all lead to accidents. Therefore, safety standards, regulations, and other requirements have been formulated for lithium battery products worldwide to ensure safety.

This article will discuss some basic regulations and standards for lithium batteries in the US market, such as the Hazardous Materials Regulations, Reese’s Law, and the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA). For lithium battery-containing products with specific different uses, additional requirements may need to be complied with. There may also be more detailed laws and regulations in each state of the US, which will not be covered in this article. The focus here is mainly on the basic requirements for lithium batteries themselves.

UL Standards

Underwriters Laboratories (UL) in the US is a testing and standard-setting company that often publishes product safety standards, many of which have become US national standards. Within the UL standard system, there are several standards for lithium batteries and products containing lithium batteries.

UL standards are usually recommendatory when not cited by regulations. However, in the following scenarios, product manufacturers are required to comply with UL standards:

a. When products are sold on Amazon or other online platforms, the platforms require sellers to comply with UL standards.

b. Customers require that products meet UL standards.

c. Manufacturers hope to avoid recall issues in the US market due to unsafe products.

The main UL standards related to the lithium battery category in the UL standard system are as follows:

UL 1642 – Lithium Batteries

The scope of application of UL 1642 is lithium primary batteries and storage batteries used to power products. Regarding the avoidance of fire or explosion risks of products, this standard mainly focuses on the following aspects:

a. When the battery is used in other assembled products.

b. When the lithium battery contained in the product can be replaced by the user and discarded by the user.

UL 60086-4 – UL Safety Standard for Primary Batteries. Part 4: Safety of Lithium Batteries

UL 60086-4 applies to lithium primary batteries. This standard mainly involves the safe operation of batteries under both intentional and common unintentional use conditions.

UL 4200A – Safety Standard for Products Containing Button Batteries or Coin Batteries

UL 400A is an important standard adopted by the US Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) to support Reese’s Law in US federal regulations and to clarify the safety requirements for products containing button batteries or coin batteries. The scope of application of this standard is consumer products containing button batteries or coin batteries (including lithium button batteries, lithium coin batteries). The standard requires that the battery compartments of products be safe and reliable and be accompanied by appropriate label information.

Suggested Standards by the US Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC)

The US Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) is a federal agency responsible for ensuring the safety of products in the US market. It has issued many guidelines for specific product categories and provided suggestions on the application of recommendatory standards. The following are some standards recommended by the CPSC and applicable to lithium battery-containing products:

a. ANSI/NEMA C18 – Safety Standard for Primary Batteries, Storage Batteries, and Lithium Batteries

b. ASTM F2951 – Consumer Safety Standard Specification for Baby Monitors

c. ASTM F963 – Consumer Safety Specification for Toy Safety

d. IEEE 1625 – Rechargeable Storage Batteries for Multi-Battery Mobile Computing Devices

e. IEEE 1725 – Rechargeable Mobile Phone Batteries

Hazardous Materials Regulations

The Hazardous Materials Regulations (HMR) stipulate the transportation requirements for dangerous goods such as lithium batteries. The contents of HMR include requirements for the testing, labeling, documentation, and packaging of corresponding products.

UN 38.3 Testing

The HMR requires that lithium batteries must comply with the UN 38.3 clause in the United Nations Manual of Tests and Criteria, specifically the standards, testing methods, and procedures applicable to the transportation of lithium batteries.

Other Requirements for Lithium Batteries

In Part 172 of US Federal Regulations 49 CFR, the “List of Hazardous Materials” lists some other requirements for lithium battery products. Different types of lithium batteries have different requirements in different parts of this regulation, such as:

Packaging requirements

Documentation requirements

Label information

Special provisions

Content limitations

Requirements for Button Lithium Batteries and Coin Lithium Batteries

This part has been described in detail previously. For more details, please visit:

Export to the US Guide: Button Batteries and Coin Batteries

Button Battery US Market Compliance Guide

The Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA)

The CPSIA includes material limitations, label information, documentation, and testing requirements for children’s products, including those powered by lithium batteries.

The CPSIA cites the ASTM F963 standard, thus making it a mandatory requirement in the US for toys and some children’s care products.

ASTM F963 – Consumer Safety Specification for Toy Safety

The scope of application of this standard is mainly toys and some children’s care products, including products powered by lithium batteries in this category. Specific requirements for lithium battery products include but are not limited to:

Small part testing

Battery compartment requirements

Warning labels

Children’s Product Certificate

The Children’s Product Certificate (CPC) is a document that must be attached to children’s products. The CPC should be issued based on the test report provided by a CPSC-recognized laboratory, and the specific content should include the following information:

Product information

List of applicable CPSC safety regulations

Name and contact information of the manufacturer company

Name of the person maintaining the test report records

Date and location of production and testing

Information of the third-party testing company that conducted the testing

Laboratory Testing

Since lithium batteries are dangerous goods, they must be tested according to relevant safety standards for lithium batteries and products containing lithium batteries, and a test report should be obtained afterwards to prove that the products comply with the applicable safety standards.

Different standard requirements target different types of safety matters, so the testing requirements vary. For example, a standard like UL 4200A mainly requires the safety of the battery compartment, and the testing it requires is to confirm that the battery compartment of the product is not easily opened.

Theoretically, some standards that are not required by regulations are recommendatory. However, in actual operation, to ensure product safety, it is still recommended that manufacturers comply with the relevant safety standards.


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