October 28, 2019
Following our on-demand webinar on international toy safety requirements: ISO standards update, we’ve sat down with our expert Elisa Gavazza, Global Toy Principal, to answer your questions.
Read the interview below to help you better understand the details and the importance of understanding international toy safety standards. Contact us to learn more about our wide portfolio of services for the toy industry.
Q: I’m interested in having more information on the microbiological standard. What can I do?
Elisa: Draft documents and other working group documents are available only to members of the working group. To be able to take part in the ISO meetings and to support development of the standard, I suggest you to reach out to your national standardization body, and ask them to be a part of the national mirror group of ISO 8124 meetings and you will be able to have access to the documents shared within the groups.
Q: Is there a list of all countries which use ISO 8124 standards on the ISO website or in any other document?
Elisa: No, unfortunately, this list is not available. There was a discussion to work on some documents within the working group, but for the moment, there is nothing available.
Q: I have a toy that is in compliance with ISO 8124–1. Can I assume this is also in compliance with EN 71–1?
Elisa: Unfortunately, you cannot assume that a toy in compliance with ISO 8124–1 is also in compliance with EN 71–1. Both standards are dealing with safety requirements related to physical and mechanical properties, but working groups are different, stockholders are different, but also, and I’d say in particular, EN 71–1 is developed as a harmonized safety standard to the safety of toys directive (Directive 2009/48/CE) which is legally binding in the EU and have inside some specification related to physical and mechanical safety of toys. If you would like to have more information on the effective differences between the two standards, you may refer to the technical report ISO 8124–9.
Q: Is there any possibility that ISO 8124–3 will be referred to 19 elements such as EN 71–3?
Elisa: For the moment, no, there are no such expectations. Also, in this case, the inclusion of 19 elements is related to the safety of toys directive, which specifies both the list of elements and the limits. At the moment, the only ongoing discussion is related to the possibility to include a limit value for Boron in ISO 8124–3, this is due to the fact that there were a lot of discussions related to the possibility that some toys (such as slimes) are containing and therefore releasing a quantity of Boron which may be harmful to human health. Boron is regulated in EN 71–3 and not in the ISO 8124–3.