The following words and terms, when used in this subchapter, shall have the following meanings, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. (1) Act--The Texas Hazardous Substance Act, Health and Safety Code, Chapter 501. (2) Commerce--Any and all commerce within the State of Texas and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, and includes the operation of any business or service establishment. (3) Corrosive--Any substance which, in contact with living tissue, will cause destruction of that tissue by chemical action. It does not refer to chemical action on inanimate surfaces. (4) Department--Department of State Health Services. (5) Federal Hazardous Substances Act--The Federal Hazardous Substances Act, 15 United States Code §1261, et seq. (6) Flammable--Applies to any substance which has a flash point of above 20 degrees Fahrenheit to and including 80 degrees Fahrenheit, as determined by the tagliabue open cup tester, a device for testing the flash point of volatile flammable materials having flash points below 175 degrees Fahrenheit. Any substance which has a flash point at or below 20 degrees Fahrenheit as determined by the tagliabue open cup tester, shall be designated "extremely flammable." However, the flammability of solids, children's clothing, and of the contents of self-pressurized containers shall be determined by methods found by the department to be generally applicable to these materials or containers, and shall be established by rules issued by the department. (7) Hazardous substance-- (A) any substance or mixture of substances which is toxic, corrosive, extremely flammable, flammable, combustible, an irritant, or a strong sensitizer, or that generates pressure through decomposition, heat, or other means, if the substance or mixture of substances may cause substantial personal injury or substantial illness during or as a proximate result of any customary or reasonable foreseeable handling or use, including reasonable foreseeable ingestion by children; or (B) any toy or other article other than clothing intended for use by children which presents an electrical, mechanical, or thermal hazard; and (C) any radioactive substance if, with respect to the substance as used in a particular class of article or as packaged, the department finds by rule that the substance is sufficiently hazardous to require labeling in accordance with the provisions of this Act in order to protect the public health. The term "hazardous substance" does not apply to any one of the following: (i) economic pesticides subject to the State Pesticide Regulation Act, Agriculture Code, Chapter 76; (ii) foods, drugs, and cosmetics subject to the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, 21 United States Code §301, et seq.; (iii) beverages complying with or subject to the Federal Alcohol Administration Act, 27 United States Code §201, et seq.; (iv) the Texas Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, Health and Safety Code, Chapter 431; (v) substances intended for use as fuels when stored in containers and used in the heating, cooking, or refrigeration system of a private residence; or (vi) any source material, special nuclear material, or by-product material as defined in the Federal Atomic Energy Act of 1954, 42 United States Code §2011, et seq., as amended, and regulations issued pursuant thereto by the Atomic Energy Commission. (8) Highly toxic-- (A) any substance which produces death within 14 days in half or more than half of a group of 10 or more laboratory white rats each weighing between 200 and 300 grams, at a single dose of 50 milligrams or less per kilogram of body weight, when orally administered, or when inhaled continuously for a period of one hour or less at an atmospheric concentration of 200 parts per million by volume or less of gas or vapor or two milligrams per liter by volume or less of mist or dust, if the inhaled concentration is likely to be encountered by any person when the substance is used in any reasonably foreseeable manner; or (B) which produces death within 14 days in half or more than half of a group of 10 or more rabbits tested in a dosage of 200 milligrams or less per kilogram of body weight, when administered by continuous contact with the bare skin for 24 hours or less; (C) however, if the department finds that available data based on human experience indicate results different from those obtained on animals, the human data shall take precedence. (9) Immediate container--Does not include package liners. (10) Irritant--Any noncorrosive substance which, on immediate, prolonged, or repeated contact with normal living tissue, will induce a local inflammatory reaction. (11) Label--A display of written, printed, or graphic matter upon the immediate container 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 this matter directly on the article involved or on a tag or other suitable material affixed thereto. (12) Misbranded hazardous substance--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 a manner which is susceptible of access by a child to whom the toy or other article is entrusted, intended, or packaged in a form suitable for use in the household or by children), which fails to bear a proper label as required by the Act, §2, and by these sections. (13) Person--Any individual, partnership, corporation or association, or legal representative or agent. (14) Strong sensitizer--Any substance which will cause on normal living tissue, through an allergic or photodynamic process, a hypersensitivity which becomes evident on reapplication of the same substances. Before designating any substance as a strong sensitizer, the department, upon consideration of the frequency of occurrence and severity of the reaction, shall find that the substance has a significant potential for causing hypersensitivity. (15) Toxic--Any substance other than a radioactive substance which has the capacity to produce personal injury or illness to any person through ingestion, inhalation, or absorption through any body surface. |
