The Minnesota legislature has modified HF 4, the state’s annual budget measure, which originally included a ban on the sale of metal keys that include a small amount of lead. Keys are made primarily of brass, with a small amount of added lead that’s needed to make them durable enough to be cut and stand up to daily use.
The goal was to remove dangerous heavy metals from products that come into contact with children. The trouble is that almost all keys sold today have more lead than the new law's 0.09 percent limit on lead content.
The Security Industry Association (SIA) led a security industry request to House and Senate conferees negotiating a final agreement on the budget urging lawmakers to include this provision, also helping explain the issue in the Duluth News Tribune.
Despite intense opposition from the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, under the bipartisan agreement in HF 4, keys will be exempt from the current requirements for three years, after which the lead or cadmium content will be limited to 1.5%, matching the California standard for brass used in keys that is widely adopted for many industry products, according to the Security Industry Association.
Keys and locks that are already in use will not be subject to the new limits, and enforcement will be strictly on new products once the law takes effect.
