No more harmful chemicals in toys

Today, MEPs voted to regulate the safety and health requirements that toys must comply with to be sold in the EU.

Sara Matthieu, Greens/EFA shadow rapporteur for the ENVI Committee, comments:

"Every child deserves to play without being exposed to toxic chemicals. This is why we're banning the use of PFAS, endocrine disruptors and harmful chemicals in our toys. After two years of negotiation, the EU is finally stepping up to protect children and introducing stronger rules to make toys safer. The new rules will protect children from harmful chemicals and excessive noise and give special attention to toys designed for children with disabilities, ensuring that adaptive toys meet the same high safety standards. For the first time, manufacturers of digitally connected and AI-enabled toys will be required to consider risks linked to children’s mental health, recognising that curiosity and play should never come with hidden digital dangers. “

The Greens/EFA welcome this long-awaited legislation, which will protect children’s health and reduce families’ exposure to toxic substances. The introduction of a digital passport for every toy entering the EU will help verify that they comply with the rules. These rules are especially important at a time when increasing numbers of unsafe toys containing dangerous chemicals are entering the EU market from China and other countries. We're starting in the children's room, but we won't stop there. PFAS don't belong anywhere - not in our clothes, not in our pans, not in our bodies. This ban on PFAS in toys is the starting signal for a PFAS-free Europe that the Greens/EFA have been fighting for for years.”