New CEN Standards for Toy Safety Related to Chemical Substances

The European Committee for Standardization (CEN) has updated some standards of the EN 71 series:

• EN 71-3:2019+A2:2024 – Safety of Toys – Part 3: Migration of Certain Elements
• EN 71-13:2021+A2:2024 – Safety of Toys – Part 13: Olfactory Board Games, Cosmetic Kits and Gustative Games

Moreover, other new standards have been published for substances banned under Appendix C of the EU Toy Safety Directive:

• EN 71-18:2024 – Safety of Toys – Part 18: Phenol in Aqueous (Content) and Polymeric (Migration) Toy Materials
• EN 71-19:2024 – Safety of Toys – Part 19: Migration of Bisphenol A from Toy Materials

Other standards for substances restricted under Appendix C of the EU Toy Safety Directive 2009/48/EC will be published in 2025:

• EN 71-15 – Formamide in Foam Toy Materials (Content)
• EN 71-16 – Certain Chlorinated Phosphorus Flame Retardants (TCEP, TCPP, TDCP) in Toy Materials
• EN 71-17 – Certain Isothiazolinones (MIT, CIT, BIT) in Aqueous Toy Materials

In December 2024, the Comité Européen de Normalisation (CEN) published the amendment to one of the most important standards for toys, EN 71-3:2019+A2:2024, for the migration of 19 elements regulated under EU Toy Safety Directive 2009/48/EC.

The following is a summary of the main changes. These updates help promote greater accuracy and safety in the manufacturing and testing of toys.

• Sampling and sample preparation have been revised and restructured to improve the user-friendliness of the standard. In particular, the dewaxing procedure has been deleted.
• The updated standard incorporates the CEN/TS 17973:2023 guidelines for categorizing products with slime-like properties.

In addition to EN 71-3, another standard, EN 71-13: 2021+A2:2024, was updated in November 2024.

This document applies to olfactory board games, cosmetic kits, gustative games and supplementary sets. It specifies requirements for the use of substances and mixtures and in some cases for their amount and concentration in olfactory board games, cosmetic kits, gustative games and supplementary sets to such games or kits.

The main changes are related to the following:

• Two new test methods for container closures (closure test A or closure test B) can be used as alternatives to EN ISO 8317:2015.
• References to the “manufacturer” are removed from evaluations, specifying the instructions and safety assessment of child-resistant containers, and the manufacturer no longer specifies the age rating of gustative games, cosmetic kits and supplementary sets (set at 3 years or older) or olfactory board games, cosmetic kits, gustative games and supplementary sets that contain highly flammable liquids (set at 8 years or older).
• The reference to EN 71 Part 9, Organic Chemical Compounds — Requirements, has been removed because this standard has been withdrawn.

Moreover, in December 2024, two new standards have been published for analysis of chemical substances restricted under Appendix C. This appendix contains specific limit values for chemicals used in toys intended for use by children under 36 months of age or in other toys intended to be placed in the mouth and adopted in accordance with Article 46(2) EU Toy Safety Directive 2009/48/EC:

• EN 71-18:2024 Safety of Toys – Part 18: Phenol in Aqueous (Content) and Polymeric (Migration) Toy Materials
• EN 71-19:2024 Safety of Toys – Part 19: Migration of Bisphenol A from Toy Materials

Other standards have been approved and are expected to be published at the beginning of 2025:

• EN 71-16:2025 Safety of Toys – Part 16: Certain Chlorinated Phosphorus Flame Retardants (TCEP, TCPP, TDCP) in Toy Materials
• EN 71-17:2025 Safety of Toys – Part 17: Certain Isothiazolinones (MIT, CIT, BIT) in Aqueous Toy Materials

Also, another standard, EN 71-15 Safety of Toys – Part 15: Formamide in Foam Toy Materials (Content), is under approval and may be published in 2025.

Finally, EN 71-20, a standard for microbiological safety of toys containing accessible aqueous media is under approval to be published in 2025.

The proposed standard will address microbiological safety of toys containing accessible aqueous media. The standard will set limits for the number of harmful bacteria, yeasts and molds that can be present in a toy as received and set test methods to evaluate whether such toys have an adequate preservative system.

The updated and newly published standards are expected to be harmonized under the EU Toy Safety Directive 2009/48/EC after being accepted by the European Commission and published in the Official Journal of the European Union. After that date, the new references shall be used for the presumption of conformity of toys to safety requirements of Toy Safety Directives.

As a toy manufacturer or distributor, it is critical to remain up to date with the latest regulatory changes to maintain compliance and advance consumer safety. These updates introduce new testing procedures that shall be respected once the standards are harmonized with the Toy Safety Directive in order to place toys on the EU market.

With our global network of toy testing laboratories, UL Solutions can evaluate your products from full compliance with the EU Toy Safety Directive and support you in navigating compliance with new standards before they are enforced by legislation.

Source

Safety of toys - Part 19: Migration of bisphenol A from toy materials