European Public Consultation to Revise Limits of Chromium (VI) in Toys

HONG KONG, China - Aug. 26, 2014 - PRLog -- In June 2009, the TSD was published in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU) (1). The TSD was implemented in 2 phases and has been in full force since July 2013.
On 1 August 2014, the European Commission and the Scientific Committee on Health and Environmental Risks (SCHER) launched a public consultation on the opinion to consider whether to revise the migration limits for chromium (VI) under the Toy Safety Directive 2009/48/EC (TSD) (2). It has to be considered that whether or not the newly proposed limits will make it to a formal revision of TSD needs further discussion among stakeholders and European legislators.

The migration limits under the TSD are based on a 2008 report of the Netherlands National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) (3) and the opinion of the Scientific Committee (4). These limits were in the absence of data for cancer potency after oral uptake.

SCHER Considers Restriction of Amount of Chromium VI

According to the preliminary opinion, new available evidence indicated that the carcinogenic effects of chromium (VI) from in vivo studies also have relevance for humans. The SCHER considers that the oral exposure route of children to chromium (VI) from toys as the most important with respect to potential carcinogenic effects. The SCHER is of the opinion that the current migration limits for chromium (VI) from toys should be revised and the recommendation of SCHER is to reduce the amount of Chromium (VI) in the toy materials as much as technically achievable. Under the proposal, the migration limits for chromium (VI) would be more stringent for all 3 toy material categories; with limits proposed to be lowered by 21-25 fold.

Interested parties are invited to submit comments on the preliminary opinion by 28 September 2014.

Highlights of the proposal are summarized in Table 1 (http://newsletter.sgs.com/eNewsletterPro/uploadedimages/0...) within the latest SafeGuards bulletin.

References:

(1) SGS-Safeguard No. 124/09 – July 2009 (http://newsletter.sgs.com/eNewsletterPro/uploadedimages/0...)
(2) Public Consultation on the opinion on chromium VI in toys (http://ec.europa.eu/health/scientific_committees/consulta...)
SCHER Report – July 2014 (http://ec.europa.eu/health/scientific_committees/docs/scher_opinion_chromium_vi_29072014.pdf)
(3) RIVM Report (http://www.rivm.nl/bibliotheek/rapporten/320003001.pdf)
(4) SCHER Report – July 2010 (http://ec.europa.eu/health/scientific_committees/environmental_risks/docs/scher_o_126.pdf)

About SGS Services for Toys and Juvenile Products

SGS offers a wide range of services to ensure that products comply with the EU Toy Safety Directive. SGS offers training, safety/risk assessment, technical documentation check, labeling review, testing (http://www.sgs.com/en/Consumer-Goods-Retail/Toys-and-Juvenile-Products/Toys/Testing/Material-Testing.aspx) according to harmonized standards, SVHC screening, inspections and audits. With the largest global network of toy experts and testing facilities around the world - around 20 toy labs worldwide including 4 EU Notified Bodies (France, UK, Germany and Netherlands), SGS is the partner to trust.

Please do not hesitate to contact an SGS expert for further information.

Website: www.sgs.com/toys

SGS is the world’s leading inspection, verification, testing and certification company. SGS is recognized as the global benchmark for quality and integrity. With more than 80,000 employees, SGS operates a network of over 1,650 offices and laboratories around the world.