Safety standards for silicone toys: protecting children’s safety

Safety standards for silicone toys: protecting children’s safety

In today’s market, silicone toys are loved by parents and children because of their softness, waterproofness, and easy cleaning. However, the quality of silicone toys varies, and safety hazards cannot be ignored. In order to protect the rights and interests of consumers and ensure the safety and health of children, silicone toys must follow a series of strict safety standards.

I. Common safety standards for silicone toys
(I) Chinese national standards
GB/T 22048-2008: Detailed regulations are made specifically for the safety, hygiene, strength and other aspects of silicone toys. It is required that silicone materials must meet food grade, medical grade or industrial grade silicone standards to ensure that no harmful substances are released during use. At the same time, the appearance of the toy should be flat, without burrs and overly sharp edges to avoid scratching children’s skin. In addition, the volume, density and hardness of the toy are strictly weighed and measured.
GB 6675-2014: This is a national mandatory technical specification for toy safety, covering a wide range of aspects, including mechanical and physical properties, flammability, and migration of specific elements. For silicone toys, their physical properties such as tensile strength and tear strength need to meet the corresponding requirements to prevent the toys from breaking and producing small parts during normal use or reasonably foreseeable abuse, leading to the risk of children swallowing and choking; in terms of flammability, it is necessary to ensure that the toys are not too easy to burn, so as to ensure the safety of children during play; the migration of specific elements limits the content of harmful elements such as heavy metals in toys, preventing children from ingesting harmful substances when they come into contact with toys.
(II) American Standards
ASTM D 3421-75: Mainly focuses on the physical and mechanical properties of silicone materials, such as patch strength, vulcanization time, plasticity, etc. It is required that the mold usage and vulcanization time of silicone toys must meet the standards to ensure the durability and stability of the toys. At the same time, the silicone material should have good plasticity, be able to maintain the shape and structure of the toy, and there should be no defects such as bubbles, looseness, and foreign matter on the surface of the toy.
CPSIA (Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of the United States): Strict restrictions on the lead content and phthalate content of children’s products. Lead is a heavy metal that is harmful to the human body. Excessive intake can affect the development of children’s nervous system, etc. Phthalates are a common plasticizer that may cause harm to children’s reproductive system, etc. If silicone toys want to enter the US market, they must comply with the CPSIA’s limit requirements for these harmful substances.
CPC certification (Children’s Product Certificate): It is a mandatory certification specifically for children’s products. Manufacturers and importers must provide a written children’s product certificate based on the test results of a laboratory approved by the CPSC (US Consumer Product Safety Commission) to prove that the product complies with relevant safety standards and regulations, such as CPSIA.
(III) EU standards
EN 71 standard: It is the unified requirement of European countries for toy safety, covering mechanical and physical properties, flammability, chemical substance limits and other aspects of toys. In terms of mechanical and physical properties, it is required that toys will not produce sharp edges, small parts will not fall off, etc. when simulating normal use and abuse by children; for chemical substance limits, it strictly limits the content of harmful substances such as heavy metals, plasticizers, formaldehyde, etc. in toys to ensure the environmental protection and safety of toys.
REACH Regulation: Strictly regulate the use and content of chemical substances in silicone toys. Requires companies to register, evaluate, license and restrict all chemical substances contained in toys to protect consumer health and environmental safety. If silicone toys contain certain specific harmful chemicals and the content exceeds the prescribed limit, they will not be allowed to enter the EU market.
CE Certification: It is a safety certification mark and is regarded as a passport for manufacturers to open and enter the European market. If silicone toys want to enter the EU market, they must pass CE certification to prove that the products comply with relevant EU directives and coordinated standards, including EN 71 standards, REACH regulations, etc.
(IV) Other standards
CCC Certification (China Compulsory Product Certification): According to the current “Description and Definition Table of Compulsory Product Certification Catalog”, plastic toys, metal toys, electric toys and ride-on vehicle toys in children’s toys fall within the scope of CCC certification. Although silicone and plastic differ in material and properties, silicone children’s toys on the market are still considered a type of plastic toys, so they also need to comply with the relevant requirements of CCC certification, including electrical safety, mechanical safety, flammability and other aspects of toys, to ensure that toys will not cause electric shock, scratches, burns and other injuries to children during use.
ISO certification: Such as ISO9001 quality management system certification, ISO14001 environmental management system certification, etc., which are internationally recognized quality and environmental standards certification. By passing these certifications, companies can prove that their product quality and environmental management levels meet international standards, which helps to improve the market competitiveness of products and consumer trust.

2. Specific requirements of silicone toy safety standards
(I) Material safety
Non-toxic and harmless: Silicone toys should be made of non-toxic silicone materials. In the normal and reasonably foreseeable use of children, the toy materials will not release toxic and harmful substances that will harm the health of children. Its composition is mainly composed of silicon dioxide, which is an inert material that does not release harmful substances and is non-irritating to the skin and mucous membranes.
Meet food grade or medical grade standards: Food grade or medical grade silicone has undergone rigorous testing to ensure that it does not contain harmful substances such as bisphenol A (BPA) and phthalates. These harmful substances may have adverse effects on children’s health, such as disrupting endocrine function and affecting the development of the reproductive system. Therefore, giving priority to toys made of food grade or medical grade silicone is an important step in ensuring children’s safety.
(II) Physical properties
Smooth surface without burrs: The surface of children’s silicone toys should be smooth, without burrs or sharp edges to avoid scratching children’s skin during use. Because children’s skin is more delicate and easily scratched by sharp objects, this requirement is crucial to ensure children’s safety.
Stable structure and not easy to deform: The structure of the toy should be stable and not easy to deform to ensure that it will not cause harm to children during use due to deformation. For example, some silicone toys may deform when squeezed or pulled by external force. If the deformed toys have sharp parts or small parts fall off, it may cause children to be injured or swallowed by mistake.
Moderate size: The size of silicone toys should be moderate and suitable for children. Avoid toys that are too large or too small to affect the use effect or cause harm to children. For example, toys that are too small can be swallowed by children by mistake, causing suffocation hazards; toys that are too large may not be suitable for the size of children’s hands, resulting in problems such as difficulty in grasping.
Rounded edges without sharp edges: The edges of toys should be rounded and without sharp edges to prevent children from being cut or scratched while playing. This requirement is mainly formulated for the irregular edges and sharp edges that may appear in the production and processing of silicone toys.
(III) Chemical substance limits
Heavy metal limits: The standards of many countries and regions have strictly limited the content of heavy metals in silicone toys, such as lead, mercury, cadmium, chromium, etc. These heavy metals have potential hazards to the human nervous system, reproductive system, immune system, etc. For example, lead poisoning may affect children’s intellectual development, and mercury poisoning may cause damage to children’s nervous system.
Plasticizer limits: Plasticizers are a common class of chemicals that are mainly used to increase the flexibility of plastics. However, some plasticizers have endocrine disrupting effects and may affect the development of children’s reproductive system and hormone levels. Therefore, the standard also strictly limits the content of plasticizers in silicone toys, such as di (2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP), diisononyl phthalate (DINP), etc. The content must not exceed the prescribed limit.
Formaldehyde limit: Formaldehyde is a harmful chemical with a strong pungent odor, which can irritate and harm the human respiratory tract, eyes, etc. Silicone toys may use some raw materials or additives containing formaldehyde during the production process. Therefore, the standard also strictly limits the formaldehyde content in toys to prevent children from ingesting or inhaling too much formaldehyde when they come into contact with toys.
(IV) Mechanical properties
Tensile strength: Silicone toys need to have a certain tensile strength to ensure that they will not be easily broken or ruptured during children’s play, resulting in small parts and causing dangers such as accidental swallowing. The tensile strength test is usually determined by stretching the toy sample to a certain extent and measuring the maximum tensile force it can withstand.
Wear resistance: Toys will rub against children’s skin, clothing, etc. during use, so they need to have good wear resistance. If the wear resistance of silicone toys is poor and the surface is easily worn, it may cause damage to the structure of the toy or make it easier for harmful substances to be released. The wear resistance test is generally evaluated by rubbing the surface of the toy with a specific friction material under specific conditions and then observing the degree of wear on the surface.
Impact resistance: In order to ensure that silicone toys will not break or be damaged due to impact during normal use and reasonably foreseeable abuse, they need to be tested for impact resistance. For example, the toy is dropped freely from a certain height to observe whether it breaks or deforms to evaluate its impact resistance. Impact resistance is particularly important for some toys that are easily thrown or hit by children, such as silicone balls.
(V) Other requirements
Safe color and no odor: The color of children’s silicone toys should be safe and odorless to avoid potential harm to children’s health due to color or odor. Some unscrupulous merchants may use dyes containing heavy metals and other harmful substances to color silicone toys, or use inferior raw materials, causing the toys to have odors. Therefore, choosing silicone toys with natural colors and no odor is an important aspect of judging their safety.
Easy to clean: Silicone toys should be easy to clean and can easily remove stains and bacteria on the surface. Because children are easily contaminated with bacteria and viruses during play, if they are not easy to clean, they may become a breeding ground for bacteria and pose a threat to children’s health. The silicone material itself has a certain degree of hydrophobicity and easy cleaning, but the design structure of the toy will also affect the difficulty of cleaning. For example, some toys with gaps and grooves may retain dirt and are difficult to clean thoroughly.

3. How to ensure that silicone toys meet safety standards
(I) Production enterprises
Strict raw material procurement: Enterprises should establish a complete raw material procurement system, select high-quality silicone raw material suppliers, and conduct strict quality inspections on raw materials to ensure that they meet the requirements of relevant safety standards. During the procurement process, suppliers are required to provide quality inspection reports, safety data sheets and other documents for raw materials, and sample and test raw materials to prevent unqualified raw materials from entering the production process.
Standardize production processes: Strictly follow the production processes required by the standards to produce, control the vulcanization time, temperature and other parameters of silicone, and ensure the quality and performance of toys. At the same time, pay attention to environmental hygiene during the production process to prevent impurities from mixing into toys. Enterprises should also establish a sound quality management system to strictly monitor each link in the production process to ensure that each link meets quality requirements.
Strengthen quality inspection: Set up a special quality inspection department, equipped with professional inspection personnel and advanced inspection equipment, and conduct comprehensive quality inspections on the silicone toys produced. Inspection items include appearance, size, physical properties, chemical content and other aspects to ensure that each batch of toys shipped meets safety standards. For products that fail the inspection, they should be reworked or destroyed in a timely manner to prevent them from entering the market.
(II) Regulatory departments
Strengthen market supervision: Strengthen supervision and inspection of the silicone toy market, and regularly sample and test silicone toys on the market to check whether they meet relevant safety standards. Products that do not meet the standards should be dealt with in accordance with the law, including ordering companies to recall products, stop sales, impose fines and other measures to maintain market order and protect the rights and interests of consumers.
Strict certification management: Strengthen supervision of certification bodies to ensure that they strictly follow certification standards and procedures to carry out certification work, and prevent the occurrence of false certification, non-standard certification and other problems. Products that have not obtained relevant certification or whose certification certificates have expired should be prohibited from entering the market. At the same time, regulatory authorities should strengthen follow-up supervision of certified products, regularly supervise and inspect certified products, and ensure the stability and consistency of product quality.
Improve regulatory efficiency: Use modern information technology to establish a silicone toy quality traceability system to achieve full life cycle supervision of products. Through product labels, QR codes and other labels, consumers can easily query product production information, certification status, etc., and regulatory authorities can also quickly and accurately trace the production source of problematic products, take timely measures to deal with them, and improve regulatory efficiency and effectiveness.
(III) Consumers
Check product labels: When purchasing silicone toys, consumers should carefully check the product labels and instructions, including product name, material, manufacturer, implementation standards, certification marks and other information. Choose products with legal production qualifications and clear and complete labels, and avoid buying products without any products. For example, check whether the product has CCC certification, CE certification, CPC certification and other marks. These marks indicate that the product has passed the corresponding safety certification and the quality is more guaranteed.
Pay attention to product safety information: Pay attention to the safety information and recall information about silicone toys released by the media, consumer associations, etc., and keep abreast of the quality status of the products. If you find that the purchased toys have safety hazards, you should stop using them immediately and report the situation to the relevant departments to safeguard your own legitimate rights and interests.
Use and maintain toys correctly: Use silicone toys correctly according to the product’s instructions, avoid improper use such as excessive stretching, squeezing, and biting, so as to extend the service life of the toys and reduce safety hazards. At the same time, clean and disinfect the toys regularly to keep the toys clean and hygienic to prevent bacteria from growing. During the cleaning process, pay attention to using appropriate detergents and methods to avoid damage to the toys.

4. Conclusion
The safety standards of silicone toys are an important basis for ensuring children’s safety and health. By following these strict standards, we can ensure that toys comply with relevant regulations in terms of material safety, physical properties, and chemical substance limits, providing children with a safe and healthy play environment. Manufacturers, regulatory authorities, and consumers should work together to strengthen the implementation of silicone toy safety standards from all aspects of production, supervision, and consumption, so that children can enjoy the fun of silicone toys while avoiding potential safety risks.