Consumer Product Testing

Testing and control of hazardous chemical substances in consumer products is a central element of product compliance, market access, and supply chain risk management. Multiple regulatory frameworks — EU RoHS, REACH (SVHC candidate list), California Proposition 65, US CPSC regulations, and Chinese GB standards — impose strict limits on hazardous substances across electronics, textiles, toys, children's articles, and household goods. Regulated substance categories include heavy metals, phthalate plasticizers, polybrominated biphenyls (PBBs), polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), and flame retardants.

As regulatory frameworks evolve at an accelerating pace — with the EU SVHC list continuously expanding and PFAS restrictions broadening in scope — laboratories must regularly update their standard inventories to maintain method regulatory validity. The catalog covers RoHS six substances and extended scope, REACH SVHC-listed compounds, phthalate plasticizers (including DEHP, DBP, BBP, and DINP), short-chain chlorinated paraffins (SCCPs), PFAS, and various flame retardants, serving in-house QC laboratories at consumer goods manufacturers, third-party certification bodies such as SGS, Bureau Veritas, and Intertek, and import/export quality inspection laboratories.

CATO Research Chemicals Inc. offers over 9,900 consumer product testing reference standards covering priority substances under major regulatory frameworks, each supplied with full COA and assigned-value data. The majority are available from stock for rapid dispatch, with mixed standard solution preparation available on request.