{"id":13560,"date":"2018-07-06T15:06:35","date_gmt":"2018-07-06T07:06:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wsafety-news.com\/?p=13560"},"modified":"2018-10-02T15:10:13","modified_gmt":"2018-10-02T07:10:13","slug":"tests-make-toys-safe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wsafety-news.com\/blog\/tests-make-toys-safe\/","title":{"rendered":"The tests that make toys safe"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"fusion-fullwidth fullwidth-box fusion-fullwidth-1  fusion-parallax-none nonhundred-percent-fullwidth\" style=\"border-color:#eae9e9;border-bottom-width: 0px;border-top-width: 0px;border-bottom-style: solid;border-top-style: solid;padding-bottom:20px;padding-top:20px;padding-left:;padding-right:;background-color:#ffffff;\"><style type=\"text\/css\" scoped=\"scoped\">.fusion-fullwidth-1 {\n                            padding-left: px !important;\n                            padding-right: px !important;\n                        }<\/style><div class=\"fusion-row\"><div class=\"fusion-one-full fusion-layout-column fusion-column-last fusion-spacing-yes\" style=\"margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:20px;\"><div class=\"fusion-column-wrapper\"><ul>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>The safety standards concerning global toy imports and sales are extremely strict. Have you ever seen what a test on a toy looks like?<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<li><strong>In the European Union, an estimated 81,000 children each year are injured because of toys.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<li><strong>In the European Union, toys remain the single largest category of non-food products identified as unsafe, accounting for 26% of more than 2000 unsafe product identified in 2016.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Due to their intended audience, children\u2019s toys must comply with complex and strict regulations before they can be imported and sold in most global markets. <\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In the European Union, the multifaceted standard that regulates the safety of all toys is called EN 71, and it outlines the various tests that must be performed to comply with European directives.<\/span><\/p>\n<h1 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><b>Who are the EN 71 standards protecting? What types of risks is it protecting against?<\/b><\/h1>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/blog.asiaqualityfocus.com\/toys-en-71-regulation\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The EN-71 standards<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> apply to toys that are intended for children up to the age of fourteen. EN 71 has specifics sections <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.api-hk.com\/toy-laboratory-testing\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">covering the suitability of toys for various ages<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, including a range of notifications for toys that are unsuitable for children under three years old.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The legislation is divided into several sections covering various aspects of safety, but, for the majority of toys, there are three pertinent parts.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">&#8211; <\/span><\/i><b><i>EN 71-1:<\/i><\/b><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Mechanical and Physical Properties<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> includes testing <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">to avoid the detachment of \u2018small parts\u2019 that could cause <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">choking hazards, <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">and other testing to detect <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">sharp points, and cutting edges<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">that could lead to injuries.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">&#8211; <\/span><b><i>EN 71-2:<\/i><\/b><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Flammability <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">assesses <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">&amp; analyzes the flames spreading speed on a toy to make sure the child has enough time to move away from it if the toy should catch fire. <\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">&#8211; <\/span><b><i>EN 71-3:<\/i><\/b><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Migration of Certain Elements<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">,<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">simulates the digestion of a child that may have swallowed a toy in order to analyze if <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.api-hk.com\/quality-assurance-for-household-goods-blog\/heavy-metals-testing-en-71-3-astm-f963-17\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">heavy metals<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\/materials can be transferred <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">from toy to the body (19 heavy metals each with a specific limit value.)<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In this article, we will focus on the EN 71-1: Mechanical and Physical Properties section, and examine through a video and explanations, some of the common tests used by laboratory technicians to ensure toys comply with <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">this standard<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<h1 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><b>Mechanical and Physical Properties \u2013 Identifying potential choking hazards and injuries<\/b><\/h1>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The safety <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">standard<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> related to the mechanical and physical properties <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">comprises over 30 safety<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0tests. This includes <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">toy<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> structural integrity, whether surfaces or edges will cause lacerations, and the dimensions of a toy in relation to potential choking hazards. The following video will display four of the main tests that make up this section.<\/span><\/p>\n\t\t\t<div class=\"fusion-slider-container fusion-slider-129 fixed-width-slider \" id=\"fusion-slider-sc-self-hosted-video\" style=\"height: 500px; max-width: 880px;\">\n\t\t\t\t<style type=\"text\/css\" scoped=\"scoped\">\n\t\t\t\t.fusion-slider-129 .flex-direction-nav a {\n\t\t\t\t\twidth:63px;height:63px;line-height:63px;margin-top:-31.5px;font-size:25px;\t\t\t\t}\n                <\/style>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"fusion-slider-loading\">Loading...<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"tfs-slider flexslider main-flex fixed-width-slider\" data-slider_width=\"880px\" data-slider_height=\"500px\" data-full_screen=\"0\" data-parallax=\"0\" data-nav_arrows=\"0\" data-nav_box_width=\"63px\" data-nav_box_height=\"63px\" data-nav_arrow_size=\"25px\" data-pagination_circles=\"0\" data-autoplay=\"1\" data-loop=\"0\" data-animation=\"fade\" data-slideshow_speed=\"7000\" data-animation_speed=\"600\" data-typo_sensitivity=\"1\" data-typo_factor=\"1.5\" style=\"max-width: 880px;\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<ul class=\"slides\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<li data-mute=\"no\" data-loop=\"no\" data-autoplay=\"no\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"slide-content-container slide-content-center\" style=\"display: none;\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"slide-content\" style=\"\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"mobile_video_image\" style=\"background-image: url(http:\/\/wsafety-news.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/pasted-image-0-1024x576.png);\"><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"background self-hosted-video-bg\" style=\"max-width:880px;height:500px;filter: progid:DXImageTransform.Microsoft.AlphaImageLoader(src='', sizingMethod='scale');-ms-filter:'progid:DXImageTransform.Microsoft.AlphaImageLoader(src='', sizingMethod='scale')';\" data-imgwidth=\"\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<video width=\"1800\" height=\"700\"  controls preload=\"auto\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<source src=\"http:\/\/wsafety-news.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/894122545-1.mp4\" type=\"video\/mp4\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<source src=\"http:\/\/wsafety-news.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/894122545-2-1.webm\" type=\"video\/webm\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/video>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/li>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/ul>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"fusion-sep-clear\"><\/div><div class=\"fusion-separator fusion-full-width-sep sep-none\" style=\"border-color:#e0dede;margin-left: auto;margin-right: auto;margin-top:10px;margin-bottom:10px;\"><\/div><p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><b>Objective A:<\/b><b> identifying choking hazard risks<\/b><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">While the Canadian law is a bit different from the European, in 2017, CBC News analyzed the details of every toy recall in Canada over the past decade and found that of the 423 recalls between 2007 and 2017, which affected 11 million toys, small parts that break off or are easily swallowed were the most common safety hazard, resulting in 230 out of the 423 recalls.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><b>Common tests:<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><b>Tension Test <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u2013 The <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/blog.asiaqualityfocus.com\/reliability-tension-test-for-toys\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">tension test<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> evaluates whether small parts snap off the main body of the toy when tension is applied <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">and create a choking hazard<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. In the video, we see that the laboratory technician pulls the toy with a force equivalent to a child\u2019s strength. In this particular case the test failed since a small part that could cause a choking hazard detached. <\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div class=\"imageframe-align-center\"><span class=\"fusion-imageframe imageframe-none imageframe-1 hover-type-none\"> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/wsafety-news.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/zz-1.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"920\" height=\"456\"class=\"img-responsive wp-image-13701\" srcset=\"https:\/\/wsafety-news.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/zz-1-200x99.png 200w, https:\/\/wsafety-news.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/zz-1-400x198.png 400w, https:\/\/wsafety-news.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/zz-1-600x297.png 600w, https:\/\/wsafety-news.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/zz-1-800x397.png 800w, https:\/\/wsafety-news.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/zz-1.png 920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 1100px\" \/><\/span><\/div><ul>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><b>Impact Test<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \u2013 This test ensures that no small parts, which could cause choking, detach from the main body of the toy when a <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">shock<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> is applied to it. In the video, we see a weight dropped on a small toy to see whether any parts detach and <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">could<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> cause a choking hazard. In this case the test was passed because the toy stayed intact.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div class=\"imageframe-align-center\"><span class=\"fusion-imageframe imageframe-none imageframe-2 hover-type-none\"> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/wsafety-news.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/image3-1.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"920\" height=\"456\"class=\"img-responsive wp-image-13704\" srcset=\"https:\/\/wsafety-news.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/image3-1-200x99.png 200w, https:\/\/wsafety-news.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/image3-1-400x198.png 400w, https:\/\/wsafety-news.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/image3-1-600x297.png 600w, https:\/\/wsafety-news.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/image3-1-800x397.png 800w, https:\/\/wsafety-news.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/image3-1.png 920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 1100px\" \/><\/span><\/div><p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><b>Objective B:<\/b><b> avoiding injuries <\/b><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Several of the tests that make up the EN 71-1 standard are designed to evaluate the possibility of the toy causing physical injuries, such as lacerations or puncture wounds.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><b>Common tests:<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><b>Cutting Edge Test <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u2013 <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In this <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">evaluation, a toy is placed against a rotating rod covered <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">with an adhesive<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> paper. If the paper is torn, then the edge is identified as cutting. In the video, one side of a small car was tested. During the test, the paper on the rotating rod wasn\u2019t torn and the test was therefore passed.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div class=\"imageframe-align-center\"><span class=\"fusion-imageframe imageframe-none imageframe-3 hover-type-none\"> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/wsafety-news.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/image2-1.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"920\" height=\"456\"class=\"img-responsive wp-image-13707\" srcset=\"https:\/\/wsafety-news.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/image2-1-200x99.png 200w, https:\/\/wsafety-news.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/image2-1-400x198.png 400w, https:\/\/wsafety-news.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/image2-1-600x297.png 600w, https:\/\/wsafety-news.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/image2-1-800x397.png 800w, https:\/\/wsafety-news.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/image2-1.png 920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 1100px\" \/><\/span><\/div><ul>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><b>Sharp Point Test<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \u2013 The sharp point test is used to check whether the pointed areas of toys are sharp enough to hurt children as they play with them. If the point of a toy<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> is sharp enough to<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">pose a risk of injury, the device detects it and visually alerts the technician by lighting a red LED.<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0The video clearly displays the red <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">LED<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> turning on to notify the lab technician that this toy isn\u2019t safe.<\/span><\/b><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div class=\"imageframe-align-center\"><span class=\"fusion-imageframe imageframe-none imageframe-4 hover-type-none\"> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/wsafety-news.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/image4-1.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"920\" height=\"456\"class=\"img-responsive wp-image-13710\" srcset=\"https:\/\/wsafety-news.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/image4-1-200x99.png 200w, https:\/\/wsafety-news.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/image4-1-400x198.png 400w, https:\/\/wsafety-news.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/image4-1-600x297.png 600w, https:\/\/wsafety-news.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/image4-1-800x397.png 800w, https:\/\/wsafety-news.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/image4-1.png 920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 1100px\" \/><\/span><\/div><div class=\"fusion-clearfix\"><\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"fusion-clearfix\"><\/div><h1 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><b>The Price of Failure \u2013 What happens when a toy doesn\u2019t pass the tests? <\/b><\/h1>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If a toy fails to meet the required safety standards, it will <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/ec.europa.eu\/consumers\/consumers_safety\/safety_products\/rapex\/alerts\/?event=viewProduct&amp;reference=A12\/0874\/18\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">immediately be withdrawn from sale<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> or prevented from being sold in the first place. The producer of that toy faces the possibility of being found guilty of a criminal offense, which can result in fines or even imprisonment. <\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It is for this crucial reason that lab technicians must ensure they follow the EN 71 <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">directive<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, and carefully perform the tests as outlined above. Not only are they keeping children safe from the dangers of hazardous products, but they are also indirectly encouraging toy producers to do their utmost to regulate their manufacturing processes and avoid prosecution.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Another important consideration for manufacturers is that the entire EN 71 directive is continually assessed and can <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/ec.europa.eu\/growth\/content\/new-safety-requirements-toys-0_en\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">frequently be updated<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For example, in 2013, changes were made to include a broader range of toy types and revamp the number of restricted materials.<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For instance, the testing methods were revised in the 2014 <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">to clarify a test method.<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> It\u2019s the responsibility of the brand or importer to ensure that manufacturers are adhering to the latest version of relevant safety standards.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13698,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"mc4wp_mailchimp_campaign":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[44,45],"tags":[123,56,47,122],"class_list":["post-13560","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","category-safety","tag-industry","tag-regulation","tag-safety","tag-toys","floatton-article"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wsafety-news.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13560","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wsafety-news.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wsafety-news.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wsafety-news.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wsafety-news.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13560"}],"version-history":[{"count":23,"href":"https:\/\/wsafety-news.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13560\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13838,"href":"https:\/\/wsafety-news.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13560\/revisions\/13838"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wsafety-news.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/media\/13698"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wsafety-news.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13560"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wsafety-news.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13560"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wsafety-news.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13560"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}