wa-law.org > bill > 2025-26 > SB 5628 > Original Bill

SB 5628 - Lead in cookware

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Section 1

The definitions in this section apply throughout this chapter unless the context clearly requires otherwise.

  1. "Component" includes separate or distinct parts of the cookware including accessories such as lids, knobs, handles and handle assemblies, griddles and other cooktop surfaces that touch food, rivets, fasteners, valves, and vent pipes. "Component" does not include inaccessible components of cookware or utensils.

  2. "Cookware" means any metal pots, pans, bakeware, rice cookers, pressure cookers, and other similar containers used to cook or store food. "Cookware" does not include large appliances such as refrigerators and ranges.

  3. "Department" means the Washington state department of ecology.

  4. "Inaccessible component" means a part or a component of cookware that is located inside or is entirely enclosed with another material and is not capable of coming out of the cookware or being accessed during any reasonably foreseeable use or abuse of the product.

  5. "Manufacturer" means any person, firm, association, partnership, corporation, governmental entity, organization, or joint venture that produces a product or is an importer or domestic distributor of a product sold or offered for sale in or into the state.

  6. "Utensils" means metal items that directly contact food during preparation, such as knives, forks, spoons, spatulas, and other such food preparation tools.

  7. "Vulnerable populations" has the same meaning as defined in RCW 70A.02.010.

Section 2

  1. No cookware, cookware component, or utensils manufactured after January 1, 2026, containing lead or lead compounds at a level of more than five parts per million may be sold, offered for sale, distributed for sale, or distributed for use in this state.

  2. [Empty]

    1. Beginning January 1, 2026, no manufacturer, retailer, or wholesaler may knowingly sell, manufacture, or knowingly offer for sale for use in this state cookware , cookware components, or utensils manufactured after January 1, 2026, that contain lead or lead compounds at a level of more than five parts per million.

    2. Manufacturers, retailers, or wholesalers who unknowingly sell products that are restricted from sale under this chapter are not liable under this chapter.

    3. The sale or purchase of any previously owned cookware or cookware components containing lead made in casual or isolated sales as defined in RCW 82.04.040, or by a nonprofit organization, is exempt from this chapter.

  3. After December 2034, the department, in consultation with the department of health, may lower the five part per million limit established in subsection (1) of this section by rule if it determines that the lower limit is:

    1. Feasible for cookware , cookware component, or utensils manufacturers to achieve; and

    2. Necessary to protect human health, including the health of vulnerable populations.

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