As of: March 15, 2024, 2:29 p.m
By: Teresa Toth, Robin Dittrich
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Toxic chemicals in toys could soon be a thing of the past.
The EU Parliament has taken a decisive vote.
Munich – Toxic chemicals can be fatal, especially in toys: children often put the objects in their mouths, chew on them or cuddle with them.
Nevertheless, substances are repeatedly detected in children's toys that are harmful to health and significantly exceed the approval limit.
Most recently, the Federation for the Environment and Nature Conservation (BUND) prepared a report on the safety of children's toys.
The EU now wants to tighten the rules significantly.
The majority of MPs voted for strict rules on children's toys
The goal is to reduce the contamination of toys with chemicals during the manufacturing process.
Previously, only substances that could affect fertility or were classified as carcinogenic or DNA-damaging were banned.
The EU Parliament recently voted on whether these provisions are outdated and need to be made stricter in the future.
The result of the vote was clear.
The EU Parliament wants to make children's toys safer within the EU - a majority voted to tighten the rules.
(Symbolic image) © Oliver Krato/dpa
A majority of MPs decided to ban chemicals that could potentially affect the hormonal, nervous or immune systems.
Substances that could have harmful effects on the respiratory system should also be banned.
The responsibility for complying with these stricter regulations lies with the companies that produce, import or sell the toy within the EU.
A digital product passport should also enable precise information about the materials and chemicals used.
Other household items can also be harmful to your health - including toilet paper.
Dangerous toys: Consumer Protection Minister calls for stricter controls
The EU Parliament's approval of the decision was welcomed by Federal Consumer Protection Minister Steffi Lemke.
She emphasized: “Children have a right to special protection.
Therefore, in further negotiations I will work to ensure that providers of online marketplaces are held even more accountable.” Despite the fact that producers are obliged to carry out a safety check, risky toys continue to arrive through online trading into the hands of consumers and therefore also of children.
Unfortunately, in 2022, toys topped the list of risky product alerts.
Antje von Broock, managing director of BUND, has been expressing concerns about questionable toys for some time: “There are toys that contain large amounts of chemicals that are harmful to health.
Unfortunately, online trading is not yet examined in a comparable way to stationary trading.
And this is how pollutants can get into our children’s bodies.”
It is currently unclear when the new regulations will come into force.
However, after the positive vote, negotiations on the final design can begin.
(rd/dd/dpa)
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