Across the EU dangerous chemicals in toys put children at risk because corporate interests are placed above children’s wellbeing. This could be about to change as the EU reform toy safety laws. We explain how decision makers can ensure that the new laws put children’s rights first.

In 2023, chemicals associated with hormone disruption, reduced fertility and cancer were found in several toys sold in the Netherlands and Denmark. Across the European Union (EU) children are exposed to dangerous chemicals in their toys. This contamination is happening despite existing EU rules on toy safety. The good news is that the EU Commission now proposes to revise these rules to better tackle dangerous substances found in toys. But it’s still a long way ahead before a full ban on the most harmful chemicals gets adopted and implemented. 

Exposure to harmful chemicals: a neglected children’s rights issue

Children can be exposed to dangerous substances in many ways, including toys. This exposure can have particularly damaging effects on children’s health. Because of their smaller bodies, rapid growth and particular behavioural habits, children are worst affected by harmful substances, even at very low doses.

The EU has an extensive body of legislation on chemicals, including on toy safety,  but it falls short in successfully upholding children’s rights. Unsafe toys are being placed on the EU market as we speak and contamination is still occurring under the existing EU directive. Among other shortcomings, this EU law does not address the impacts of the combination of multiple chemicals used across various products (so-called cocktail effect). It also does not prohibit chemicals that harm the hormone system. Harmful exposure via toys is a silent assault on children's rights, as it leads to severe infringements, including of children’s rights to play, to health and physical integrity. 

Teaming up with other NGOs, CRIN is raising awareness among the EU institutions on the impacts chemicals can have on children’s health and their rights. For example, chemicals known or suspected as endocrine disruptors (EDCs) can mimic, block or interfere with hormones. Exposure to EDCs entails severe health issues, particularly for children, as it can impair their development, cause brain damage and cancers. We invite the EU to question the way chemicals are being assessed and restricted, and improve access to information on these substances. 

An ambitious new Toy Safety Regulation 

Delivering on its Chemicals Strategy adopted in 2020, the EU Commission is now proposing a regulation to reform the existing directive on toy safety (TSD). In force since 2009, this outdated TSD suffers from several shortcomings, particularly in ensuring that toys are free from hazardous substances such as endocrine disruptors. It also fails to make sure that companies producing toys comply with the safety requirements. 

For the first time in EU law, the EU Commission proposes to ban both known and suspected EDCs from an entire category of products, in this case toys. This is an ambitious move paving the way for better protection of children across the EU. Additionally, the proposal suggests banning chemicals which knowingly affect respiratory systems or are toxic to specific organs. It also proposes to address the cocktail effect of chemicals, to better assess and manage their combined impacts. 

There is however room for improvement on several fronts. 

An opportunity to better uphold children’s rights in the EU

Existing loopholes in the TSD have meant that severe infringements on children rights are happening. This outdated directive violates children’s rights under two main international and EU children’s rights frameworks, which all EU member states agreed to uphold:

• The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) which outlines universal children’s rights for all States to respect and uphold, including the right to life, to health and to play. 

• The EU Charter of Fundamental Rights which binds all EU Member States, and prescribes that in all actions relating to children, children’s best interest should be a primary consideration.

In 2021, the EU institutions also committed to the Strategy on the Rights of the Child which enshrines fundamental rights such as the right to education and health as well as a good standard of living. 

For EU states and EU institutions to uphold these commitments, all toys must be made hazard-free. The European Union and its Member States must guarantee the highest level of safety in toys. The TSR proposal is the chance for the EU to step up and deliver on its legally binding commitments to international and EU children’s rights frameworks. 

CRIN’s approach to ensuring toy safety rules uphold children’s rights

Together with partner NGOs, we educate decision makers so they can adopt legislation on toy safety that best aligns with children’s rights. The Commission’s proposal is only the starting point of long negotiations at the EU.  EU institutions must keep ambitions high so harmful substances can be banned from toys at the finish line. 

To do so, we published a position paper that decision makers can use to ensure children’s rights are at the core of the TSR reform. Our recommendations include the following:

• Better understand and uphold children’s rights, by fully understanding the links between exposure to hazardous substances and children’s rights violations, as well as recognising children as independent rights holders.

• Ban both known and suspected categories of hazardous substances from all toys, including carcinogenic, mutagenic and reprotoxic substances (CMRs) and EDCs.  

• Put an end to unjustified derogations from the hazardous substances ban. The current proposal alarmingly maintains opportunities for the industry to apply for derogations, bypassing the ban on the most harmful substances. The regulation should close this pandora’s box. 

• Limit the transition period during which companies can keep using harmful substances, to prevent continued harming children during the transition period. 

• Enforce stricter limits for the use of certain chemicals in toys for all age groups. Current rules are stricter for children under 3, however limits must be strictly applied across all ages. There is no such thing as a tolerable age for being exposed to hazardous chemicals.

• Improve information sharing, compliance and control. This includes the introduction of a Digital Product Passport containing information easily accessible to the public, as well as the reinforcement of the market surveillance and custom authorities - in number and resources - so they can ensure that unsafe toys are not sold on the market. 

Exposure to hazardous chemicals via toys is a silent assault on children's rights. The EU has an opportunity to improve its regulation to put an end to these violations and become a toy safety frontrunner worldwide. 

Read CRIN’s full position paper ‘No more harmful chemicals in toys’.

Learn more about CRIN’s project Protecting children from harmful chemicals in the EU