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JA2008 - Project on Toys for Very Young Children

Toys1_Participants_at_a_meeting

The first joint market surveillance action on toys coordinated by PROSAFE was initiated around the last quarter 2008. The primary focus was on toys intended for children under 3 years of age with a special focus on small parts and migration of heavy metals.
The Toys Safety Directive at that time was Council Directive 88/378/EEC. Sampling and testing mainly took place during 2009. 576 samples were tested in line with EN71-1. 227 samples were tested in line with EN71-3, migration of heavy metals, some of which being the same toys as those tested for EN71-1.
Representatives from 15 market surveillance authorities from within 13 European countries met regularly and took action under the co-ordination of PROSAFE. The market surveillance authority from Turkey also took part in this activity.

toys1Over 14,000 toys were initialled screened / checked by inspectors from the participating organisations. The data and information extracted from these surveillance exercises has been compiled, analysed and formulated into a Technical Report. Click on the image to the left to see a copy of this report.

In addition to the regular joint action meetings and laboratory testing, the working group also purchased a number of handheld XRF equipment through EU co-funding. The equipment was used for both general pre-screening of toys and the performance of round-robin tests between the various participating organisations. The whole activity ended by mid-2011.

JA2015 - Chemical Risks

This is the 4th project undertaken by PROSAFE on toys. A number of 17 countries are taking part in the project. In total, 255 plasticised toys (mainly plastic dolls, inflatable toys and bath/squeeze toys) have been tested for dangerous chemicals and 20% of these have failed the tests. The chemicals found over the required limit were: phthalates, Bisphenol A (BPA) and short-chained chlorinated paraffins (SCCPs).                                   

During the period between 2010 and mid-2015, there have been 485 RAPEX notifications on plasticised toys regarding chemicals and microbiological risks, out of a total of 2,500 toy notifications for the same period. This constitutes around 20% of all toy notifications for that period. toys

The Action focused on phthalates, bisphenol A, short-chained chlorinated paraffins (SCCPs), PAHs and flame retardant chemicals inter alia, all these substances being known for or suspected to present long term carcinogenic, mutagenic or reprotoxic hazards to humans.

Objectives

  • To build on the work undertaken during the previous activities on toys and thereby continue to increase the safety of products within this product category;
  • To detect dangerous toys on the marketplace and take action against them;
  • To update the priority-list for toys to be targeted in future joint actions.

toys reportThe Final Technical Report of this activity can be downloaded by clicking on the cover page of the report. Very interesting information can be found within this report and it is particularly useful for market surveillance authorities and anybody else interested to know more about chemical risks in plasticised toys.

Additional Resources

  • A Newsletter on the implementation and final results of the JA2015 project is available on the Swedish Chemicals Agency website. 
  • The Belgian Federal Public Service Economy has published a Belgian Report on the JA2015 project results in November 2017. 
  • A press release on the JA2015 Final Technical Report from Malta Competition and Consumer Affairs Authority can be found here. 

JA2014 - Acoustic Toys

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Acoustic toys are being the main focus for this particular joint market surveillance action which had its first kick-off meeting in September 2015 and finished in June 2017. This is part of an even larger project coordinated by PROSAFE, called JA2014.

Market surveillance authorities from 16 EEA Countries have participated in this particular activity. 6 Project meetings have been organised in total and the activity took around 24 months to be finalised. Around 2,190 different models of acoustic toys were inspected, out of which 371 samples were tested at a laboratory. 98% of all samples were taken directly from distributors or importers and the rest were extracted directly from local EU manufacturers. The authorities had also extracted samples from online sales and some with assistance from Customs. Testing took place in line with the latest amendment in acoustic testing as per European Standard EN71-1:2011+A2:2013. 

acoustic toys JA2014 PROSAFE

 

10% of the tested acoustic toys were found non-compliant. The acoustic toy groups with the highest non-compliances were cap-firing toys, close-to-the-ear toys, wind toys and hand-held toys. More details can be found in the Final Technical Report.

The Final Technical Report of this activity can be downloaded by clicking on the cover page of the report. Very interesting information can be found within this report and it is particularly useful for market surveillance authorities and anybody else interested to know more about safety aspects of acoustic toys.

The Activity also produced a Guideline for Assessment of Risks from Acoustic toys to provide guidance to market surveillance authorities in assessing the risk nfrom acoustic toys that emit too high sounds. It covers the 11 types of acoustic toys from the standard.

JA2013 - Toys for Very Young Children

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In total, there are 10 market surveillance authorities from the following EEA countries that are participating directly in this project on toys: Cyprus (Leader), the Czech Republic, Denmark, Greece, Lithuania, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland and Portugal. The project started in February 2014 and finished by the end of 2015.

Similar to the first joint action on toys, this second joint activity has targeted toys intended for children under 3 years of age. Various product groups within this sector have been focused upon; namely, bath toys, rattles, pull-along / push-along toys, soft toys, dolls, puzzles and various other product groups.

Toys Final Technical ReportOver 600 samples have been tested. Both physical and chemical aspects have been targeted, in line with the Toys Safety Directive 2009/48/EC. Small parts have been targeted again since the figures in the last technical report from the previous joint action showed considerable non-compliances. Additionally, in the area of chemicals, testing on phthalate content as well as migration of heavy metals in line was performed.

The Final Technical Report of this activity can be downloaded by clicking on the cover page of the report. Very interesting information can be found within this report and it is particularly useful for market surveillance authorities and anybody else interested to know more about safety aspects of toys intended for children under 3 years of age.

Priority Setting Exercises

A priority-setting activity has also taken place during this project, involving not only the direct participating authorities but also various other surveillance authorities from EEA Countries, in particular, TOY-ADCO members as well as input from external stakeholders. This activity has helped to identify priorities amongst different classes of toys that can be addressed in future joint market surveillance actions coordinated by PROSAFE on a yearly basis.