§ 1240.70 - Lather brushes.

(a) General requirements. A person shall not transport, or offer for transportation by the owner or operator of a conveyance, nor shall the owner or operator of a conveyance knowingly transport for another person, in interstate traffic lather brushes made from animal hair or bristles unless such brushes have been manufactured in the United States, its territories, or possessions in compliance with the provisions of paragraphs (b), (c), (d), (e), and (f) of this section.

(b) Treatment. The hair or bristles used in such brushes, if other than badger hair, shall be subjected to sterilization or to a treatment found by the Surgeon General, upon application of an interested person and the submission by such person of supporting data, to be effective to destroy anthrax spores in the hair or bristles to be treated. Badger hair shall be subject to the requirement of sterilization or other treatment only if the Surgeon General finds, and so notifies the manufacturer, that the hair was secured from areas, or has been stored or handled under circumstances, likely to render it an agent in the spread of communicable diseases from one State or possession to another.

(c) Sterilization. Sterilization shall consist of:

(1) Exposure to steam under pressure in an autoclave at a minimum temperature of 120 °C (248 °F) for 15 minutes for bristles and 20 minutes for hair; or

(2) Exposure to streaming steam in an autoclave (not under pressure) at 100 °C (212 °F) for 30 minutes for bristles and 40 minutes for hair.

In either case, the steam temperature shall be measured in the exhaust line at its exit from the autoclave by an indicating thermometer found by the Surgeon General to give reasonable assurance of accuracy, and by a recording thermometer adjusted to read no higher at any time than the indicating thermometer. The time of exposure shall be measured from the moment at which the indicating thermometer reaches the specified sterilization temperature. Recording thermometer charts for each sterilization shall be kept readily available. The hair or bristles shall be sterilized in tied or wrapped bundles not exceeding 21/2 inches in diameter and 5 inches in length, or in untied and unwrapped lots not exceeding 21/2 inches in depth. The bundle or lots shall be placed on racks or trays in single layers, with the racks or trays separated from each other sufficiently to assure free circulation of the steam and the exposure of all the hair or bristles to such steam. If the hair or bristles are placed in the autoclave in wrapped bundles, the ends of the bundles shall be left open.

(d) Handling and storage. Hair or bristles which have been treated, by sterilization or otherwise, shall be marked with the date of treatment, the method used, and name and location of the establishment at which treatment occurred, and shall be so handled and stored as to prevent their contamination or recontamination with anthrax spores.

(e) Identifying marks. Lather brushes shall be marked permanently with the name of the manufacturer or with an identifying mark of the manufacturer registered with the Surgeon General.

(f) Inspection. Persons engaged in processing or other handling of hair or bristles for use in lather brushes manufactured for transportation in interstate traffic and persons engaged in manufacturing such lather brushes from hair or bristles shall permit authorized representatives of the Surgeon General to make at any reasonable time such inspection of the plants or other places, including the equipment, operations, and products thereof, at which such manufacturing, processing or handling is carried on as may be necessary in the judgment of such representatives to determine compliance with the provisions of this section.