ACMI & AMACO
What is ACMI?
The Art & Creative Materials Institute (ACMI) is an international association of more than 200 art, craft, and creative material manufacturers seeking to promote regulation in art and creative products through its certification program. Many small companies, as well as large ones, participate in the ACMI product certification program. For over 80 years, the ACMI program focused on children’s art materials, in 1982, the program was expanded to include a much broader range of art materials.
ACMI-certified product seals (AP Approved Product and CL Cautionary Labeling) indicate that these products have been evaluated by a board-certified toxicologist (medical expert) and are labeled in accordance with federal and state art material labeling laws.
Each product in the program undergoes extensive toxicological testing that covers acute and chronic toxicity concerns before being granted the right to bear the ACMI certification seal. The ACMI product certification program includes an ongoing review of the latest scientific and regulatory information available to keep the program current. The program also includes a five-year review of product formulations to meet the Labeling of Hazardous Art Materials Act requirements.
AMACO & ACMI
In keeping with our focus on education, AMACO helped usher in a new era of standards for teaching and making ceramics. Originally called the Crayon, Watercolor and Craft Institute (CWCI, established in 1936), which was changed to Art and Creative Materials Institute (ACMI) in the 1970s, this organization provided leadership in the ceramics industry. Working closely with ACMI, AMACO initiated the first-ever glaze labeling practices. With ACMI and independent toxicologists, some of the most rigorous guidelines have been implemented for producing, labeling, and using ceramic materials for both school and private studio use.
Eventually, ACMI’s testing and labeling standards became the national standard and the forerunner of the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) International’s document ASTM D-4236 Standard Practice for Labeling Art Materials for Chronic Health Hazards, which is the basis for the Labeling of Hazardous Art Materials Act (LHAMA).
While governmental standards continually shift, AMACO continues to work diligently to adapt and ensure clear standards for those who use our products.
Learn more about The Art and Creative Materials Institute, Inc. (ACMI) and the seals:
Approved Product (AP) SealCheck for the AP Seal on creative products for kids in sixth grade or younger.
- For young children and adults who are physically or mentally handicapped or don’t understand labeling on product packages
The AP Seal identifies art materials that are certified in a toxicological evaluation by a medical expert.
Cautionary Labeling (CL) SealCheck for the CL Seal on creative products for kids in seventh grade or older. Never give children in sixth grade or younger a product with the CL Seal.
- For adults and kids older than sixth grade
- Must read the product label in full before opening
- Labeled according to the chronic hazard labeling standard, ASTM D 4236, and the U.S. Labeling of Hazardous Art Materials Act (LHAMA)
The CL Seal identifies products that are certified to be properly labeled in a program of toxicological evaluation by a medical expert.