The rule California Brake Friction Material Requirements was approved on 30 September 2016 and has taken effect since 1 January 2017. The regulation forbids the sale of brake pads made up of more than 5% copper on or after 1 January 2021. This will drop to 0.5% on 1 January 2025.
California lawmakers created the brake pad law in 2010, after a US EPA study found an estimated 1.3m pounds of copper dust in the air from them.
Manufacturers of brake friction materials should have their products tested and the results certified by a testing certification agency, which can assign the environmental compliance levels based on manufacturers’ data.
“Environmental compliance level” means the single letter that specifies the constituent concentration levels for which a brake friction material formulation does not exceed concentrations levels. See the chart below for specific limits.
Regulated Substances | Environmental Compliance Level A | Environmental Compliance Level B | Environmental Compliance Level N | Date of Implementation |
Asbestiform fibres | ≤0.1% | ≤0.1% | ≤0.1% | 01/01/2014 |
Cadmium and its compounds | ≤0.01% | ≤0.01% | ≤0.01% | 01/01/2014 |
Chromium (VI)-salts | ≤0.1% | ≤0.1% | ≤0.1% | 01/01/2014 |
Lead and its compounds | ≤0.1% | ≤0.1% | ≤0.1% | 01/01/2014 |
Mercury and its compounds | ≤0.1% | ≤0.1% | ≤0.1% | 01/01/2014 |
Copper and its compounds | ≤5.0% | 01/01/2021 | ||
≤0.5% | 01/01/2025 |
C&K Testing advises related businesses to deal with due care.
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