A number of 17 countries took 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. 

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.

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 chemical risks in plasticised toys.