Last week, the EU Parliament and Council agreed on a revised Toy Safety law that bans the most harmful chemicals, including endocrine disrupting chemicals, bisphenols, and PFAS, in children’s toys.

In a fantastic win for children’s health, following much persuasion from NGOs, the EU has agreed to expand the Toy Safety law. Children are more vulnerable to the impacts of harmful chemicals as they are still developing, making it crucial to prevent harmful chemicals from being in their toys. The old Toy Safety law dated back to 2009 and needed an update to ensure children are properly protected.

The new law will ban the use of endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) in toys. EDCs are chemicals that disrupt the body’s sensitive hormone system, which regulates functions such as metabolism, growth and reproductive development.

It also introduces a ban on a group of 10 of the most concerning bisphenols. We have known about the harmful impacts that certain bisphenols can have on people’s health for decades, but little action has been taken. Consumer testing has shown widespread use of bisphenols in toys, including a 2023 study which found the chemicals in teething toys.

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) will also be banned in toys under the new law. PFAS are a group of over 10,000 highly persistent synthetic chemicals often called ‘forever chemicals’, because they do not break down easily in the environment. Exposure to some PFAS has been linked to adverse health impacts, such as the promotion of certain cancers such as kidney and testicular cancer, disruption of the immune system and reduced fertility.

The agreement between the Parliament and Council to revise the Toy safety law is, therefore, a huge win for children and parents across Europe.

CHEM Trust played a crucial role in calling for this change. We worked with numerous other NGOs in Europe, such as Health and Environment Alliance and Children’s Rights International Network, to raise awareness of harmful chemicals in children’s toys.

Ioana Bere, EU Policy advocate at CHEM Trust said:

“This is good news for children and parents across Europe, as EU legislators agreed to step up action against the most harmful chemicals in toys.”

The deal will now have to be approved by the Council and Parliament, after which it will become law.

Read more on PFAS, bisphenols and EDCs.

Read more on harmful chemicals in toys here.

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