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Fidget Spinner Business Guidance

Fidget spinners generally consist of two main pieces, a center piece containing a small ball-bearing component, and an outer piece. The outer piece generally has multiple lobes weighted with items such as small ball-bearing components, solid weights, or balls. Fidget spinners can be made of a variety of materials, including plastic, brass, stainless steel, titanium, and copper. The user holds the center piece between the forefinger and thumb and rotates the outer piece to cause it to “spin.” The lobes of the fidget spinners are equally weighted to allow the user to balance the product.

The applicable requirements for fidget spinners first depend on whether or not it is considered a children’s product:

  • For general-use fidget spinners:
  • For children’s product fidget spinners:
    • Lead in paint and similar surface coatings: Children’s products must not bear paint and/or similar surface coatings that contain more than 0.009 percent (90 ppm) lead.
    • Total lead content: Children’s products must not contain greater than 100 ppm (0.01 percent) of total lead content in any accessible component part. 16 C.F.R. § 1500.87 addresses determination of accessibility for the purposes of the total lead content regulation.
    • Phthalates: Children’s toys and child care articles as defined per 16 C.F.R. § 1307.2 must not contain greater than 0.1 percent (1000 ppm) of any regulated phthalate in any accessible plasticized component part. 16 C.F.R. § 1307.3 lists the regulated phthalates, and 16 C.F.R. part 1199 addresses determination of accessibility for the purposes of the phthalate regulation.
    • Toy safety: Children’s toys must meet 16 C.F.R. part 1250 which incorporates ASTM F963 by reference. Applicable requirements under ASTM F963 include, but are not limited to, material quality, solubility of certain heavy metals, sharp edges, and sharp points.
      • Sections of ASTM F963 address requirements for toys containing magnets (section 4.38) as well as button cell or coin batteries (section 4.25). Children’s toys that are subject to and comply with these sections are subject to 16 C.F.R. part 1250 and not 16 C.F.R. parts 1262 or 1263 referenced above.
    • Third-party testing: Children’s products must be tested for compliance to applicable safety regulations by a third-party, CPSC-accepted laboratory.
    • Tracking label: Children’s products must bear distinguishing, permanent marks on the product and any packaging that allow consumers to ascertain the identity of the manufacturer or private labeler, date and place of manufacture, detailed information on the manufacturing process (i.e., batch or run number), and the specific source of the product (e.g., address of the specific manufacturing plant).

Certification

There is no specific certification requirement for fidget spinners, but products that are subject to a mandatory requirement enforced by CPSC (see lists above) would be subject to certification. For more information, visit our General Certificate of Conformity business guidance page or Children’s Product Certificate business guidance page.

Contact

For more information, please contact the Small Business Ombudsman (SBO) team:

Report an unsafe product