ACMI’s certification seals inform consumers
that products bearing the seals conform to federal and state art material labeling laws. Under
the U.S. Labeling of Hazardous Art Materials
Act (LHAMA), all art materials sold in the
U.S. must be evaluated by a qualified toxicologist for chronic toxicity, their ability to cause
chronic illness such as cancer, and be labeled,
if hazardous, to provide health and cautionary
information and safe-use instructions. The Federal Hazardous Substances Act (FHSA) already
required manufacturers to evaluate and label
for acute toxicity. ACMI’s certification program
covers both acute and chronic toxicity con-
cerns.
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What Is the
PRODUCT EVALUATION
ACMI’s certification program has received the
endorsement of experts in the field of toxicol-
ogy and is recognized as the leading authority
on art and craft materials. All products in the
ACMI program undergo extensive toxicological
evaluation and testing before they are granted
the right to bear the ACMI certification seals.
A number of factors are taken into account in
the product evaluation process, including each
ingredient and its quantity, possible adverse
interaction with other ingredients, the product’s size and packaging, potential acute and
chronic harm to any part of the human body,
possible allergic reaction, how a product is
commonly used and misused, and U.S. national
and state labeling regulations. ACMI’s AP Seal
identifies those products that have been evaluated in our program and found to be nontoxic,
which means that they contain no materials
in sufficient quantities to be toxic or injuri-
ous to humans or to cause acute or chronic
health problems. ACMI’s CL Seal identifies
those products that have been evaluated in our
program and require a health warning and/or
labeling for safe use. ACMI currently has over
200 members and has certified over 60,000 art
material formulations. Of these certified mate-
rials, 100% of the children’s products and 85%
of those meant for adult artists are certified as
nontoxic.
ACMI?
The Art & Creative Materials Institute,
Inc. (ACMI) is a nonprofit, international
association of manufacturers of art,
craft, and other creative materials.
Since 1940, ACMI has sponsored a
certification program for children’s art
materials, certifying that these prod-
ucts are nontoxic and meet voluntary
standards of quality and perfor-
mance. Today, ACMI certifies not
only children’s art materials but
adult art materials as well.
ASK US
Be sure to look for the ACMI Seals when purchasing art supplies so you will know the product has been evaluated by a qualified toxicologist for both acute and chronic hazards.
If you have questions about ACMI’s certification program, the safe use of art and craft
materials, need more specific information
about ingredi-
ents, or have other
safety questions, please
contact us or visit our Web
site at www.acminet.org. A list of
ACMI-certified products can be found
on our Web site in a searchable database
format, or you can download the entire
list.
