On July 18, 2013, the Official Journal of the European Union published European Commission Notice No. 681/2013. This notice amended Directive 2009/48/EC on toy safety, specifically modifying the limit for the chemical substance barium. The amendments came into full effect in the EU on July 20, 2013.
The provisions of Part III of Annex II to Directive 2009/48/EC concern the chemical properties of toys placed on the EU market. Part III states that toys must be designed and manufactured with the consideration that human health will not be harmed by legitimate use of the toys through contact with chemicals or mixtures in them. The directive indicates that the European Commission has a responsibility to periodically assess the presence of harmful substances in toys, and if new evidence emerges that certain chemicals are harmful to children's health, the Commission may revise the restrictions on such substances.
Section 3, paragraph 13, lists migration limits for substances contained in toys or toy parts. The migration limits cover 19 elements, including barium, lead, cadmium, trivalent and hexavalent chromium, copper, mercury, and nickel.
The recently published European Commission Bulletin 681/2013 further lowered the limit for barium. A 2007 report by the U.S. Toxic Substances and Disease Registry recommended that daily barium intake should not exceed 0.2 mg per kilogram of body weight. In light of this, the Commission requested its Scientific Committee on Health and Environmental Risks to provide advice on migration limits for barium.
On March 22, 2012, the Scientific Committee on Health and Environmental Risks adopted an opinion letter stating that the standard of 0.2 mg per kilogram of body weight per day was acceptable.
After considering the recommendations in the opinion letter, the European Commission stated that, in order to more effectively protect children's health, the migration limits for barium must be tightened as soon as possible. Therefore, the Commission adopted Circular 681/2013 revising the relevant parts of the Toy Safety Directive (2009/48/EC), both the Circular and the revisions entering into force on 20 July 2013.
According to the announcement, the new limit for barium is:
– Dry, powdered, or soft toy materials: 1,500 mg per kilogram
– Liquid or sticky toy materials: 375 mg/kg
– Material scraped from toy surface: 18,750 mg/kg
The communiqué takes effect immediately to avoid the lengthy process required for conversion into implementing measures. Generally, more lenient migration limits are applied during the conversion period.
The Toy Safety Directive was revised in 2009, and the European Commission may further adjust it to stricter regulations if new scientific evidence emerges in the future.
For detailed information in EU Circular 681/2013, please refer to the annex: EU Toy Directive - Barium Restriction Update - English Version
Sources: Hong Kong Trade Development Council (2013-08-02)
Attachment file:EU Toy Directive - Barium Restriction Update - English Version.pdf
