The article test

Three limbs, read separately

On this page11

The definition is conjunctive and the and is doing real work The opening clause excludes two states of matter Formed to a specific shape or design during manufacture The second limb allows partial dependence And the third limb is hedged in two directions at once Very small quantities is defined by example rather than by number Here there is no figure at all and the example is the only guide The second half of the limb is a separate hurdle Both halves are measured against the standard’s own definitions So the article test is three tests and two cross-references References

Shape, function, release. Only the first two are about the object.

The definition is conjunctive and the and is doing real work

Formed to a specific shape or design during manufacture, and having an end use function dependent on that shape, and not releasing more than very small quantities under normal conditions of use. All three.

The opening clause excludes two states of matter

A manufactured item other than a fluid or particle. So the definition will never reach a liquid or a powder regardless of how it was formed, which closes the obvious route in.

Formed to a specific shape or design during manufacture

During manufacture, not afterwards. Something cut to shape by the user at the point of use is a different case from something that arrived in its shape.

The second limb allows partial dependence

Dependent in whole or in part upon its shape or design during end use. In part is generous: an item whose function is mostly chemical but partly geometric still satisfies this limb.

And the third limb is hedged in two directions at once

Does not release more than very small quantities, for example minute or trace amounts, of a hazardous chemical, and does not pose a physical hazard or health risk to employees.

Very small quantities is defined by example rather than by number

Minute or trace amounts. Which is unusual in this library, where a threshold is almost always a figure: five percent by weight, fifteen percent of area, three and a half seconds, nineteen microns.

Here there is no figure at all and the example is the only guide

Which puts the weight of the test on the words normal conditions of use, because a quantity with no number has to be judged against a situation.

The second half of the limb is a separate hurdle

And does not pose a physical hazard or health risk to employees. An item could release nothing at all and still fail on this clause, which is phrased without reference to any chemical.

Both halves are measured against the standard’s own definitions

Physical hazard and health hazard are each defined terms in paragraph (c) with their own lists, and the release limb points to paragraph (d) for how a chemical is determined to be hazardous.

So the article test is three tests and two cross-references

Which is why nobody can answer it from a catalog listing, and why these pages set it out and stop.

References

29 CFR 1910.1200(c), which defines: "Article means a manufactured item other than a fluid or particle: (i) Which is formed to a specific shape or design during manufacture; (ii) Which has end use function(s) dependent in whole or in part upon its shape or design during end use; and (iii) Which under normal conditions of use does not release more than very small quantities, e.g., minute or trace amounts of a hazardous chemical (as determined under paragraph (d) of this section), and does not pose a physical hazard or health risk to employees." Paragraph (b)(6)(v) excludes articles from the section. Nothing on these pages determines whether any item is an article, because that turns on a particular use. law.cornell.edu

Written from 29 CFR 1910.1200 and from the catalog as it stood on 19 October 2026. That section is the Hazard Communication Standard and it governs the classification and labeling of hazardous chemicals in the workplace; it does not govern bits, blades, wheels or collets, and nothing here says it does. Nothing here determines whether any item is an article under paragraph (c), because that turns on a particular use. No container on this shelf is described as rated for any chemical, fluid or dust, and nothing here is guidance about handling a tool, about dust exposure, about ventilation or about protective equipment. This shelf is a subset of the store-small-dry shelf and the sewing notions property enumerates that shelf.