Colo. Rev. Stat. § 25-5-502

Current through Chapter 123 of the 2024 Legislative Session

Section 25-5-502 - Definitions

As used in this part 5, unless the context otherwise requires:

(1) "Banned hazardous substance" means:

(a)

(I) Any toy, or other article intended for use by children, which is a hazardous substance, or which bears or contains a hazardous substance in such manner as to be susceptible of access by a child to whom such toy or other article is entrusted.

(II) The department shall exempt by regulation articles, such as chemical sets, which by reason of their functional purpose require the inclusion of the hazardous substance involved or necessarily present an electrical, mechanical, or thermal hazard, and which bear labeling giving adequate directions and warnings for safe use and are intended for use by children who have attained sufficient maturity, and may reasonably be expected, to read and heed such directions and warnings. Proceedings for the issuance, amendment, or repeal of exemption regulations shall be governed by the provisions of section 25-5-508.

(b) Any hazardous substance intended, or packaged in a form suitable, for use in the household which the department by regulation classifies as a banned hazardous substance on the basis of a finding that, notwithstanding such cautionary labeling as is or may be required under this article for that substance, the degree or nature of the hazard involved in the presence or use of such substance in households is such that the objective of the protection of the public health and safety can be adequately served only by keeping such substance, when so intended or packaged, out of the channels of commerce.

(2) "Combustible" means any substance which has a flash point above eighty degrees Fahrenheit to and including one hundred and fifty degrees, as determined by the Tagliabue open cup tester. This definition shall not apply to the flammability or combustibility of solids and of the contents of self-pressurized containers which shall be determined by methods generally applicable to such materials or containers and established by regulations issued by the department.

(3) "Commerce" means any and all commerce within the state of Colorado, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, and includes the operation of any business or service establishment.

(4) "Corrosive substance" 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.

(5) "Department" means the department of public health and environment.

(6) "Electrical hazard" means an article, the design or manufacture of which, in normal use or when subjected to reasonably foreseeable damage or abuse, may cause personal injury or illness by electric shock.

(7) "Executive director" means the executive director of the department of public health and environment.

(8) "Extremely flammable substance" is a substance which has a flash point at or below twenty degrees Fahrenheit as determined by the Tagliabue open cup tester. This definition shall not apply to the flammability or combustibility of solids and of the contents of self-pressurized containers which shall be determined by methods generally applicable to such materials or containers and established by regulations issued by the department.

(9) "Flammable substance" is a substance which has a flash point above twenty degrees Fahrenheit to and including eighty degrees Fahrenheit as determined by the Tagliabue open cup tester. This definition shall not apply to the flammability or combustibility of solids and of the contents of self-pressurized containers which shall be determined by the methods generally applicable to such materials or containers and established by regulation issued by the department.

(10)

(a) "Hazardous substance" means any substance or mixture of substances which:

(I) Is toxic;

(II) Is corrosive;

(III) Is an irritant;

(IV) Is a strong sensitizer;

(V) Is flammable or combustible; or

(VI) Generates pressure through decomposition, heat, or other means, if such substance or mixture of substances may cause substantial personal injury or substantial illness during or as a proximate result of any customary or reasonably foreseeable handling or use, including reasonably foreseeable ingestion by children.

(b) "Hazardous substance" also means:

(I) Any substances which the department by regulation finds, pursuant to the provisions of section 25-5-508, meet the requirements of paragraph (a) of this subsection (10);

(II) Any radioactive substance, if, with respect to such substance as used in a particular class of article or as packaged, the department determines by regulation that the substance is sufficiently hazardous to require labeling in accordance with this article in order to protect the public health;

(III) Any toy or other article intended for use by children which the department by regulation determines, in accordance with section 25-5-508, presents an electrical, mechanical, or thermal hazard.

(c) The term "hazardous substance" shall not apply to an economic poison subject to regulation by the federal government; to a substance regulated by the "Pesticide Act"; to food, drugs, and cosmetics subject to regulation by the federal government or the "Colorado Food and Drug Act"; or to anhydrous ammonia as an agricultural fertilizer as regulated by article 13 of title 35, C.R.S. "Hazardous substance" shall not include a substance intended for use as fuels when stored in containers and used in the heating, cooking, or refrigeration system of a house or any source material, special nuclear material, or byproduct material as defined in the federal "Atomic Energy Act of 1954", as amended, and regulations issued pursuant thereto by the atomic energy commission.

(11)

(a) "Highly toxic" means any substance which falls within any of the following categories:

(I) Produces death within fourteen days in one-half or more than one-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

(II) Produces death within fourteen days in one-half or more than one-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 or vapor or two milligrams per liter by volume or less of mist or dust, provided such concentration is likely to be encountered by man when the substance is used in any reasonably foreseeable manner; or

(III) Produces death within fourteen days in one-half or more than one-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.

(b) If the department 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.

(12) "Irritant" means any substance not corrosive within the meaning of subsection (4) of this section which on immediate, prolonged, or repeated contact with normal living tissue will induce a local inflammatory reaction.

(13) "Label" means a display of written, printed, or graphic matter upon the immediate container (not including package liners) of any substance or, in the case of an article which is unpackaged or is not packaged in an immediate container intended or suitable for delivery to the ultimate consumer, a display of such matter directly upon the article involved or upon a tag or other suitable material affixed thereto. A requirement made by or under authority of this part 5 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 on the outside container or wrapper, if any there be, unless it is easily legible through the outside container or wrapper and on all accompanying literature where there are directions for use, written or otherwise.

(14) "Mechanical hazard" means an article, the design or manufacture of which, in normal use or when subjected to reasonably foreseeable damage or abuse, presents an unreasonable risk of personal injury or illness from fracture, fragmentation, or disassembly of the article; from propulsion of the article or any part or accessory thereof; from points or other protrusions, surfaces, edges, openings, or closures of the article; from moving parts of the article; from lack or insufficiency of controls to reduce or stop the motion of the article; as a result of self-adhering characteristics of the article; because the article, or any part or accessory thereof, may be aspirated or ingested; because of the instability of the article; or because of any other aspect of the article's design or manufacture.

(15) "Misbranded hazardous substance" means a hazardous substance (including a toy, or other article intended for use by children, which is a hazardous substance, or which bears or contains a hazardous substance in such manner as to be susceptible of access by a child to whom such toy or other article is entrusted) intended, or packaged in a form suitable, for use in the household or by children, which substance, except as otherwise provided by or pursuant to section 25-5-508, fails to bear a label:

(a) Which states conspicuously:

(I) The name and place of business of the manufacturer, packer, distributor, or seller;

(II) The common or usual name or the chemical name (if there be no common or usual name) of the hazardous substance or of each component which contributes substantially to its hazard, unless the department by regulation permits or requires the use of a recognized generic name;

(III) The signal word "DANGER" on substances which are extremely flammable, corrosive, or highly toxic;

(IV) The signal word "WARNING" or "CAUTION" on all other hazardous substances;

(V) An affirmative statement of the principal hazard or hazards, such as "Flammable", "Combustible", "Vapor Harmful", "Causes Burns", "Absorbed Through Skin", or similar wording descriptive of the hazard;

(VI) Precautionary measures describing the action to be followed or avoided, except when modified by regulation of the department pursuant to section 25-5-508;

(VII) Instruction, when necessary or appropriate, for first-aid treatment;

(VIII) The word "poison" for any hazardous substance which is highly toxic;

(IX) Instructions for handling and storage of packages which require special care in handling or storage; and

(X) The statement "Keep out of the reach of children" or its practical equivalent or, if the article is intended for use by children and is not a banned hazardous substance, adequate directions for the protection of children from the hazard.

(b) On which any statement required under paragraph (a) of this subsection (15) is located prominently and is in the English language in conspicuous and legible type in contrast by typography, layout, or color with other printed matter on the label.

(16) "Person" means an individual, partnership, corporation, or association or its legal representative or agent.

(17) "Radioactive substance" means a substance which emits ionizing radiation.

(18) "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 department. Before designating any substance as a strong sensitizer, the department, upon consideration of frequency of occurrence and severity of the reaction, shall find that the substance has significant potential for causing hypersensitivity.

(19) "Thermal hazard" means an article, the design, or manufacture of which, in normal use or when subjected to reasonably foreseeable damage or abuse, presents an unreasonable risk of personal injury or illness because of heat, as from heated parts, substances, or surfaces.

(20) "Toxic" shall apply to any substance (other than a radioactive substance) which has the capacity to produce personal injury or illness to man through ingestion, inhalation, or absorption through any body surface.

C.R.S. § 25-5-502

L. 73: R&RE, p. 697, § 1. C.R.S. 1963: § 66-21-2. L. 94: (5) and (7) amended, p. 2778, § 484, effective July 1.

(1) For the "Pesticide Act", see article 9 of title 35; for the "Colorado Food and Drug Act", see part 4 of this article 5; for the federal "Atomic Energy Act of 1954", see 42 U.S.C. § 2011 et seq. (2) For the legislative declaration contained in the 1994 act amending subsections (5) and (7), see section 1 of chapter 345, Session Laws of Colorado 1994.