EU negotiators and member states have hammered out an agreement on how to better protect children from and hazardous toys sold online.
While most hazardous substances are already banned, the bloc says action is still needed on certain chemicals that disrupt hormones and damage the nervous, respiratory, or immune systems.
What are the new rules on chemicals?
The new rules introduce a ban on PFAS — a group of synthetic chemicals and health risks, except in electronic components in toys that are out of reach of children.
has been linked to liver damage, high cholesterol levels, reduced immune response, low birth weight, and various types of cancer.
The regulations also expand existing bans on carcinogenic, mutagenic and toxic for reproduction chemicals (CMRs) to include other hazardous substances like hormone disruptors.
Such chemicals are linked to increasingly common hormone-related disorders, often later in life, such as impaired sperm quality.
“These chemicals are particularly harmful for children as they could interfere with their hormones, their cognitive development or more generally impact their health,” the European Commission said.
German European Parliament member Marion Walsmann, who led the legislation through the bloc legislature, noted that one in five products pulled from the EU market for safety concerns is a toy.
“The new Toy Safety Regulation sends a clear message: we’re protecting children, ensuring fair competition, and supporting Europe as a business hub,” she said.
The regulations will kick in once they are formally approved by the European Parliament and EU governments.
“EU toy safety rules are among the world’s strictest, but we must keep pace with emerging risks,” said Krzysztof Paszyk, Poland’s technology minister.
What about toys sold online?
Under the new rules, importers will have to submit a digital product passport — a kind of safety fact sheet that contains safety compliance information and warnings — to customs at the EU borders.
“This will make it easier for national inspectors and customs officers to control them,” the said.
As per the new rules, “importers will have to submit the digital product passport to customs at the EU borders which will be checked to prevent that unsafe toys enter the Union market, including those sold online,” the commission added.
Edited by: Wesley Rahn
The post EU wheels in ‘forever chemicals’ ban for children’s toys appeared first on Deutsche Welle.
