Full analysis of SVHC content detection in TPR toys

Full analysis of SVHC content detection in TPR toys
In today’s global toy market, TPR toys are favored for their unique material properties and wide applicability. However, as consumers pay more and more attention to product safety and environmental performance, ensuring that TPR toys meet relevant safety standards, especially the detection of SVHC content, has become an important task that toy manufacturers and suppliers must face.

1. Introduction to TPR toys
TPR, or thermoplastic rubber, is a polymer material made by blending SBS, SEBS, etc. as base materials and adding other components such as PS, PP resin, white oil, calcium powder filling, compatibilizer, functional additives, etc. It has good elasticity, flexibility, low temperature resistance and impact resistance, and is simple to process. It can be produced in a variety of processing methods. Therefore, it is widely used in the toy industry, such as toy tires, toy dolls, elastic balls, luminous animal dolls, mollusks, simulated fruits and other soft rubber toys.

2. Concept and Importance of SVHC
SVHC is the abbreviation of “Substances of Very High Concern” in the EU REACH regulations. These substances are of great concern because they may cause serious harm to human health and the environment, such as Class I or Class II carcinogenicity, mutagenicity, reproductive toxicity, or persistence, bioaccumulation and toxicity, or high persistence and high bioaccumulation. With the continuous updating of REACH regulations, the number of substances in the SVHC list is also gradually increasing, and currently has reached 209.
For TPR toys, ensuring that their SVHC content meets the relevant standards is not only to meet the regulatory requirements of the international market, especially the EU market, to avoid the risks of recalls and fines due to product non-compliance, but also an important measure to protect consumers, especially children’s health and safety, which helps to enhance consumers’ confidence in product quality and safety and enhance the market competitiveness of products.

3. Common SVHC substances in TPR toys
Some SVHC substances may be involved in the production process of TPR toys. The following are some common examples:
Phthalates: These substances are often used as plasticizers to make TPR materials softer and easier to process. However, some phthalates are considered to have endocrine disrupting properties and may have adverse effects on the human reproductive system and development, such as di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP), diisononyl phthalate (DINP), di-n-butyl phthalate (DBP), etc., which have been included in the SVHC list.
Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs): In the production process of TPR materials, if the raw materials or additives used are contaminated with polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, PAHs may be contained in toys. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons are a class of substances with carcinogenic, mutagenic and reproductive toxic hazards, such as benzo[a]pyrene.
Heavy metals: such as lead, cadmium, mercury, chromium, etc. Although TPR materials themselves usually do not contain these heavy metals, if pigments, stabilizers or other additives containing heavy metals are used during the production process, the heavy metal content in TPR toys may exceed the standard. These heavy metals can cause damage to the human nervous system, blood system, kidneys, etc., especially to the development and health of children.

4. Detection method of SVHC content in TPR toys
(I) Sample preparation
Sampling principle: It should be ensured that the collected samples are representative and can accurately reflect the quality status of the entire batch of products. Usually, samples are randomly selected from toys produced in different parts and at different times according to a certain proportion and method.
Sample quantity: Determine the appropriate number of samples based on factors such as the size, shape and complexity of the toy, which is generally not less than the quality and quantity required for the test to ensure the accuracy of the test results.
Sample processing: For some large or complex TPR toys, it may be necessary to split and cut them, and process the samples into a state suitable for analysis by the testing instrument, such as cutting the samples into small pieces, powder or extracting the active ingredients therein.
(II) Detection technology
Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS): It is one of the common methods for detecting organic SVHC substances in TPR toys. Its principle is to use gas chromatography to separate complex samples into different components, and then perform qualitative and quantitative analysis of each component by mass spectrometry. For example, for the detection of substances such as phthalates and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, GC-MS has the advantages of high separation efficiency, high sensitivity and high selectivity, and can accurately detect the content of these substances in toys.
High performance liquid chromatography (HPLC): It is suitable for the detection of some thermally unstable, large molecular weight or ionic SVHC substances. For example, the detection of some phthalates can also adopt HPLC method. It uses different mobile phases and stationary phases to separate the components in the sample in the chromatographic column, and detects and quantitatively analyzes them through the detector.
Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer (ICP-MS): It is mainly used to detect heavy metal elements in TPR toys. It can simultaneously determine multiple metal elements, and has the advantages of fast detection speed, high sensitivity, and wide linear range. By pre-treating the sample, the metal elements in it are converted into a form that can be detected by ICP-MS, and then analyzed, and lead, cadmium, mercury,