Guides For Advertising Radiation Monitoring Instruments
16 CFR Part 232 · Guides · in the Code of Federal Regulations 1968-1993 (24 annual editions)
Scanned CFR pages, OCR text may contain errors; the linked Library of Congress PDF is the authority. Not legal advice; not affiliated with the FTC. These rules and guides are historical: most were rescinded or replaced, so do not assume any is in force.
Latest edition: Library of Congress, 1993 CFR · Earliest edition: 1968 CFR
Text (1993 edition, OCR)
§ 232.0
Example. An advertisement contains a pic-
ture of a shoe in sufficient detail as to lead
a casual reader to expect the upper and lin-
ings were composed of leather. This adver-
tisement must disclose the true composition
of these parts or disclose that they are imi-
tation leather.
(b) The term “leather” and other
terms suggestive of leather may be un-
qualifiedly used in advertising of shoes
and slippers only when the shoes or
slippers are composed in all substan-
tial parts of top grain leather, exclu-
sive of heels, stiffenings and ornamen-
tation.
(1) If a shoe or slipper is composed
in substantial part of leather, such
terms may be used in advertising if im-
mediately qualified to show clearly
what part or parts are of leather, pro-
vided no reference to leather content
shall be so emphasized as to exagger-
ate or otherwise deceptively represent
the quantity, quality or extent of
leather present.
(2) The unqualified term “leather”
and other terms suggestive of leather
may not be used to describe shoes and
slippers or parts thereof made from
split leather or from ground, pulver-
ized or shredded leather. The term
may be used if qualified so as to pro-
vide an accurate, nondeceptive descrip-
tion of the split leather or the ground,
pulverized or shredded leather con-
tent.
(3) Terms suggestive of leather may
be used to describe the appearance of
a nonleather material which has the
appearance of leather if immediately
accompanied by a disclosure that the
term refers only to the appearance
and that the material is not leather.
Example. ‘Imitation Alligator.”
(c) In the advertising of shoes and
slippers, no trade name, coined name,
trade-mark, depiction, symbol, or
other words or terms may be used
which would tend to convey the im-
pression that the shoes or slippers ad-
vertised are made of a certain kind or
type of material when they are not.
(d) Examples of words and terms
prohibited by this section, when ap-
plied to nonleather material are:
“Duraleather.”
“Barkhyde.”
(Guide 7]
16 CFR Ch. I (1-1-93 Edition)
PART 232—GUIDES FOR ADVERTIS-
ING RADIATION MONITORING IN-
STRUMENTS
Sec.
232.0 Application.
232.0-1 Explanation of terms.
232.1 Products adequate for home civil de-
fense use.
232.2 Products of limited home civil de-
fense use—affirmative disclosures of lim-
itations.
232.3 Representations for toys, novelties,
etc.
232.4 Representations for
monitoring instruments.
232.5 Representations requiring qualifica-
tions.
232.6 Government approval or endorse-
ment.
232.7 Performance claims and other repre-
sentations.
AutTHoriITy: Secs. 5, 6, 38 Stat. 719, as
amended, 721; 15 U.S.C. 45, 46.
Source: 32 FR 15533, Nov. 8, 1967, unless
otherwise noted.
Professional
§ 232.0 Application.
This part is applicable to the adver-
tising of instruments, devices or other
products which are represented in any
manner to be of use to the general
public for detecting or measuring fall-
out radiation. All forms of advertising,
labeling and other promotional mate-
rial, however, disseminated, are within
the scope of this part.
§ 232.0-1 Explanation of terms.
As used in this part:
(a) “Gamma radiation” refers to the
high energy radiation which would be
given off by radioactive fallout parti-
cles and would present the major radi-
ation hazard for the first few weeks
after a nuclear attack;
(b) “Roentgen” refers to the stand-
ard unit of measure for the amount
(dose) of gamma radiation exposure;
(c) ‘“Dosimeter’’ refers to an instru-
ment or device designed to measure
the accumulated amount (total dose)
of gamma radiation to which an indi-
vidual or area has been exposed
during the period of measurement;
(d) “Rate meter” refers to an instru-
ment or device designed to measure
the intensity (dose rate) of gamma ra-
24
Federal Trade Commission
diation existing at the time and place
of measurement;
(e) “Official Federal Emergency
Management Agency (FEMA) Crite-
ria” refers to the ‘Criteria for Radi-
ation Instruments for Use by the Gen-
eral Public’! as published by the Fed-
eral Emergency Management Agency,
Washington, DC 20472.
(32 FR 15533, Nov. 8, 1967, as amended at 48
FR 11104, Mar. 16, 1983]
§ 232.1 Products adequate for home civil
defense use.
(a) A product should not be repre-
sented, directly or by implication, as
providing an adequate means whereby
families or individual users may detect
or measure radiation resulting from a
nuclear attack, unless the product
meets the Official FEMA Criteria in
all material respects.
(b) The following are some examples
of products which would fail, in mate-
rial respects, to meet the Official
FEMA Criteria:
Example 1. A rate meter which will not
measure (indicate quantitatively) gamma ra-
diation dose rates from 1 to at least 100
roentgens per hour and give positive indica-
tion when the dose rate is between 100
roentgens per hour and 1,000 roentgens per
hour;
Example 2. A dosimeter which will not
measure (indicate quantitatively) accumu-
lated doses of gamma radiation:
a. From zero to at least 600 roentgens, or
b. From zero to at least 200 roentgens
(when provision is made for resetting the in-
strument’s indicator back to zero to permit
further use);
Example 3. A rate meter which will not
provide a measure of gamma radiation
within an over-all accuracy of plus or minus
35 percent of the true gamma radiation in-
tensity (dose rate);
Example 4. A dosimeter which will not
measure gamma radiation within an over-all
accuracy of plus or minus 25 percent of the
true accumulated amount (total dose) of
gamma radiation;
Example 5. An instrument, the operation
of which would be materially affected by
temperature changes, habitable altitudes,
high humidity and other climatic and
‘Copies of the “Criteria for Radiation In-
struments for Use by the General Public”
are available upon request from the Federal
Emergency Management Agency, Washing-
ton, DC 20472.
25
§ 232.4
weather conditions, or by prolonged periods
of storage:
Example 6. An instrument or device which
would require the user to evaluate the radi-
ation dose or dose rate by nothing more
than his interpretation of variations in tone,
brightness, loudness, color or photographic
densities.
[Guide I]
(32 FR 15533, Nov. 8, 1967, as amended at 48
FR 11104, Mar. 16, 1983)
§ 232.2 Products of limited home civil de-
fense use—affirmative disclosures of
limitations.
A product which does not meet the
official FEMA criteria in all material
respects, but which would be of some
significant use in detecting and meas-
uring fallout radiation, should not be
represented, directly or by implication,
as providing any means whereby mem-
bers of the general public could detect
or measure radiation resulting from a
nuclear attack, unless all advertising,
labeling and promotional material
used therefor clearly and conspicuous-
ly disclose all material respects in
which the product fails to meet the of-
ficial FEMA criteria. [Guide IT]
(32 FR 15533, Nov. 8, 1967, as amended at 48
FR 11104, Mar, 16, 1983]
§ 232.3 Representations for toys, novelties,
ete.
Products which cannot be relied on
to serve a significant purpose in de-
tecting and measuring radiation after
a nuclear attack, should not be adver-
tised or labeled in any manner which
would convey the impression that the
product would fulfill any such home
civil defense need. [Guide III]
§ 232.4 Representations for professional.
monitoring instruments.
Professional, industrial, laboratory
and other types of products designed
for specialized radiation monitoring,
but which would not be of practical
use for some significant home civil de-
fense need, should not be represented
in any manner that would convey the
impression that the product would be
useful for home civil defense purposes.
(Guide IV]
§ 232.5
§ 232.5 Representations requiring qualifi-
cations.
(a) Representations which are sus-
ceptible-of more than one interpreta-
tion, one or more of which would be
misleading, should be qualified to
remove the deceptive implications.
Example 1. Claims implying that radiation
monitoring instruments provide ‘“protec-
tion” from fallout radiation are misleading
because such instruments only detect and
measure radiation. Shelter is required for
protection against radiation hazards. There-
fore, any statement implying that monitor-
ing instruments afford protection, such as,
“Help Protect the Family,” should be prop-
erly qualified.
Example 2. Such representations as
“Detect and Measure Radiation” should be
qualified so as to make it clear that the ad-
vertised product would be adequate for
measuring only dose rates or only total
doses of gamma radiation, as the case may
be, unless the product adequately provides
for making both types of measurements.
(b) Representations which cannot be
qualified without the qualification
amounting to a contradiction should
not be used.
Example 1. Representations such as ‘100
percent Accurate” and “Fully Accurate,” or
any other expressions implying that an in-
strument would be completely accurate
under all possible conditions of use, should
not be used unless true in fact, because any
qualification would amount to a contradic-
tion.
Example 2. If a product does not include
an adequate dosimeter and an adequate rate
meter it should not be represented as a
“Complete Family Kit,’’ because any qualifi-
cation of that claim, or one of similar mean-
ing, would necessarily contradict the impli-
cation that a family would need nothing
more than the kit to satisfy its basic radi-
ation monitoring needs.
(c) Qualifications ‘or disclosures
should be made clearly and conspicu-
ously in close conjunction with any
representation which makes the quali-
fication or disclosure necessary, and
should have sufficient prominence to
be observed by casual readers. Qualifi-
cations and disclosures should not be
deceptively deemphasized through use
of small print, asterisks, footnotes or
by any other means. [Guide V]
16 CFR Ch. I (1-1-93 Edition)
§ 232.6 Government approval or endorse-
ment. .
If a product meets the official
FEMA criteria, the advertiser may
reveal this fact in advertising. Howev-
er, even though the product meets
such criteria, an advertiser should not
represent in any manner that the
product is being offered by, or has
been approved, accepted, recommend-
ed or otherwise endorsed by the Gov-
ernment or any agency thereof. Thus,
representations, pictures, seals, insig-
nia, trade or brand names, or any
other term or symbol which would
imply any Government connection, ap-
proval or any other form of govern-
mental endorsement, should not be
used. (Guide VI]
{32 FR 15533, Nov. 8, 1967, as amended at 48
FR 11104, Mar. 16, 1983] .
§ 232.7 Performance claims and other rep-
resentations.
No representation should be made,
in any manner, which would mislead
prospective purchasers concerning:
(a) A product’s manner of perform-
ance, capabilities, reliability,. utility,
durability, or shock-resistant or mois-
ture-resistant properties; or
(b) The ease or simplicity with
which a product may be operated, in-
terpreted, calibrated, tested, repaired
or maintained. (Guide VII]
Note: The Federal Trade Commission's
Guides Against Deceptive Pricing and
Guides Against Deceptive Advertising of
Guarantees furnish guidance respecting
price and guarantee representations.
PART 233—GUIDES AGAINST
DECEPTIVE PRICING
Sec.
233.1 Former price comparisons.
233.2 Retail price comparisons; comparable
value comparisons.
233.3 Advertising retail prices which have
been established or suggested by manu-
facturers (or other nonretail distribu-
tors).
233.4 Bargain offers based upon the pur-
chase of other merchandise.
233.5 Miscellaneous price comparisons.
AutuHority: Secs. 5, 6, 38 Stat. 719, as
amended, 721; 15 U.S.C. 45, 46.
26