European toys/stationery EN71 testing and certification services

What is EN 71 testing and certification

EN71 is the standard for toy products in the EU market. Children are the most concerned and cherished group in the whole society. The market for toys that are generally loved by children is developing rapidly. At the same time, various types of toys often cause harm children due to various quality problems . Therefore, countries around the world are very concerned about the use of toys in their own markets. The safety requirements for toys are becoming increasingly stringent. Many countries and regions have established their own safety standards for these products, and production companies must ensure that their products comply with relevant standards before being sold in the region.

As a result, the toy safety law EN71 was launched        in Europe . Its significance is to carry out safety technical specifications for toy products entering the European market through the EN71 standard, thereby reducing the harm of toys to children.

Zhongyu has more than ten years of experience in EN71 toy testing services, and can provide professional EN71 testing services, as well as EN71 testing technical guidance and EN71 regulatory consultation to help your products enter the European market smoothly.

1.  EN 71-1:  physical &mechanical TestPhysical  and mechanical test

(a)Without Sound module  silent toy

(b)With Sound module  sound making toys

(c)Earphone with Sound  headphone sound toy

(d)7000 Cycles Switch Test for  Chest toy cabinet

(e)Ride-on  Toys

(F)Mouth-actuated Toys Mouth-actuated toys

This part of physical and mechanical performance mainly includes drop detection, small parts detection, sharp edge detection, tension detection, pressure detection, seam  detection, ear, nose and eye tension, torsion detection, etc. General requirements for the physical test part: 1  Material  2  Assembly  3  Soft plastic film  4  Toy bag  5  Glass  6  Expansion material  7  Sides  8 Powder cap specially designed for toys  9 Sound toys  10  Toys with heat source  11  Small balls  12  Sharp ***   13  protruding parts  14  relatively moving parts  15  oral toys  16  balloons  17  ropes for toy kites and other flying toys  18  enclosed toys  19  toys that bear the weight of children  20  heavy stationary toys  21  projectiles 22 water toys, etc.

2.   EN 71-2:  flammability Test  flammability test

(a)Finished  Product

(b)Pile fabric or materialPile  fabric or pile material

(c)Flash Point  liquid flash point test

3.  EN 71-3: Toxic Elements Test (19 heavy metal tests )

Toy materials are divided into the following three categories according to the degree of possible ingestion by children (see Table 1 for details): 

Category *** – Dry, friable, powdery or flexible toy materials

Category 2 – Liquid and viscous toy materials

Category 3 – Toy materials that can be scratched off

-The test objects include 19 chemical elements (trivalent chromium, hexavalent chromium, organic tin and tin elements are counted separately , so it can also be said to be 17 elements).

-Retains the original 8 elements (chromium, which is divided into the two different valence states of chromium mentioned above), plus another 9 different elements.

-Lowered the migration limits for most elements. (See Table 2 for details)

- *** The migration limit of barium set by the EN71-3 standard is even much lower than that stipulated in the directive.

-  The migration limit of hexavalent chromium in Category *** and Category II toy materials is too low to be detected by the test method of EN71-3:2013. Therefore, its compliance with the requirements must be proved by other methods.

- The new standard removes the application of analytical correction factors.

- In the previous version, only the analysis results corrected by the analysis correction coefficient can be used to judge the conformity of the product. That is to say, the analysis results of toy materials must still exceed the limit after being corrected by the analysis correction coefficient to be considered as non-compliance.

-The  new standard requires laboratories to use their own uncertainties to assess whether test materials meet the requirements. 

- If the laboratory's measurement uncertainty is less than the analytical correction factor of the previous version, the chemical analysis will no longer show test results significantly higher than the regulatory limit as in the previous version, as corrected A conclusion that meets the requirements.

Table 1 –  Toy Material Categories

Table 2 - Migration limits of different categories of elements

4.  EN 71-4: Experimental Set for Chemisty    chemical experimental toys

5.  EN 71-5: Chemisty Toys(Sets) Other than Experimental Sets  

6.  EN 71-6: Graphical Symbol for Age Warning   Labelling

7.  EN 71-7: Finger Paints  Testing of finger paints

(a)Colorants Colorants

(b)  PreservativesPreservatives

(c)Binding agents,extenders,humectants and surfactants,ingredient reviewBinding  agents, extenders,humectants and surfactants,ingredient review

(d)Limits for the of Transfer certain  elements

(e)Limits for primary aromatic  amines

(f)Ethanol  ethanol

(g)pH value  acid-base

(h)Product information & ContainerProduct  information and packaging containers

8.  EN71-8:  Household swings, household slides, household seesaws, household playhouses, household paddling pools, others (such as climbing facilities)

(a) Playground Equipment (Exclude Swing) Recreational facilities other than swings

(b)Swing  swing

9.  EN 71-9: Organic Chemical Compounds-  Requirements

EN71-9 test items are as follows, based on different material testing requirements:

(a)Flame Retardants flame retardants

(b)Color fastness to perspiration Color fastness to perspiration

(c)Colourants  colorants

(d)Limits for primary aromatic  amines

(e)Monomers-migration TestPlastic monomer (migration)

(f) Solvents-migration Test solvent (migration)

(g) Solvents-inhalation Test Solvents (inhalation)

(h)Wood Preservatives wood preservatives

(i)Preservatives (Other than wood preservatives)

(j)Plasticisers-migration TestPlasticizer (migration)

(k)Toxicity Classification according to 1999/45/EC Toxicity Classification

(l)PH pH value

(m) FormaldehydeFormaldehyde

10.  EN 71-10:  Sample preparation and extraction procedures for specific safety requirements for toys in EN71-9

11.  EN 71-11: Organic Chemical Compounds-Methods of  analysis

12.  EN 71-12:  Testing of nitrosamines and nitrosamine compounds

13.EN  71-13:  Testing of fragrances in certain toys

14.  EN 71-14:  Safety requirements testing for household trampolines