Senate Bill Would Limit Lead & Arsenic in Glass Beads in Pavement Markings
On July 29, 2010, Senator Specter introduced the Safe Highway Markings Act of 2010 (S. 3670) which would establish a limit of 200 parts per million of arsenic or lead in each glass bead used in pavement markings on or along any road or highway.1
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States that Don’t Comply Would be Penalized
States that do not comply with this requirement would receive up to 5% less in Federal appropriations under the National Highway System, Surface Transportation and Interstate Maintenance funds for fiscal year 2011 or any subsequent year.
(Note that some involved with children’s consumer products, which now have strict mandated lead limits, have questioned the reasoning behind only focusing on lead in children’s consumer products when lead is present in many other types of products, the environment, and in food and water.)
1Glass bead would mean a transparent spherical glass manufactured to be highly resistant to traffic wear and used in pavement markings to provide retroreflective properties when viewed at night with motor vehicle head lights. Pavement marking would mean a system composed of pigmented binders that is applied to the pavement surface to convey guidance, regulations, or warnings to motorists.