Toys among the most dangerous products in the EU. They may contain dangerous chemicals

Almost a quarter (23 per cent) of risky products notified under the EU Early Warning System – the so-called Safety Gate – are children’s toys – according to a report published on Monday by the European Commission.

We are talking here, among others about toys containing harmful chemicals, including phthalates. These substances give the toys elasticity, but at the same time they can have a negative impact on the body’s hormonal balance and even lead to fertility disorders. Toys with elements that can be easily detached, such as buttons, tails or ribbons, which can be swallowed or choked by a child, are also classified as dangerous.

In second place on the list of the most risky products entering the EU market were motor vehicles, including cars and motorcycles, followed by: cosmetics, clothes, textiles and fashion accessories, and electrical equipment.

Half a hundred requests a day

In 2022, the EU system accepted a total of 2,117 notifications from 30 European countries (outside the EU, it is Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein) in response to which almost 4,000 actions were taken. In practice, the system looks like this: a given country alerts via Safety Gate that a dangerous product has appeared on its market, the information immediately goes to the relevant authorities in other countries, and they check whether it has also reached their store shelves and take action. appropriate actions.

For example, after Austria reported that dangerous toys containing easily detachable parts appeared on its market, Slovenia also found them in its own country and ordered distributors to withdraw them from sale. – Safety Gate allows you to ensure consumer safety and eliminate dangerous products from the market, regardless of whether they are on the store shelf or in the online basket. This platform helps us maintain a fast and efficient exchange of information, said EU Justice Commissioner Didier Reyners on Monday.

EU officials estimate that an average of 50 new notifications are entered into the system every day, which are sent to all countries in the system. According to the authors of the report, last year the number of reports from countries that have so far been less active under the Safety Gate, i.e. Austria, the Czech Republic, Latvia and Norway, has doubled. However, it fell in the countries most active so far, i.e. in Portugal and Germany, where the number of applications fell by as much as 22 percent.

Experts associate this with the economic situation after the pandemic. Both of these countries reported problems related to motor vehicles most often, but sales of these after COVID-19 fell significantly.

In general, the results in the different categories of dangerous products vary from one Member State to another. For example, in Poland, the most frequently reported problem are defective toys and children’s products, such as car seats that do not have the appropriate safety certificates, which account for as much as 60 percent. all submissions.

Meanwhile, in Germany, the largest number of notifications (49 per cent) still concerns cars and motor vehicles, followed by jewelery products and small household appliances, such as hair dryers.

Most chemicals

When it comes to the most frequently reported risks related to these products, the first place (35 percent) are chemicals that are harmful to health. In addition to the already mentioned toys, chemical substances banned in the EU were also found in cosmetic products, such as perfumes or creams – here is the number of notifications last year. indeed, it increased significantly.

Further places are products whose use can cause various types of injuries, lead to choking, there was also a lot of talk about, for example, defective hair dryers that shocked the user with electricity or chargers for equipment that suddenly caught fire. Meanwhile, EU consumer organizations claim that the statistics provided by the EC are the tip of the iceberg.

– As much as 23 percent of notifications concerns toys, it is 3 percent. more than in 2021. Unfortunately, although most toy manufacturers are honest, there are still too many substandard and even dangerous products on our market. We have to stop selling them,” says Stephen Russell of ANEC, the European consumer standardization organisation.

– It is also not known exactly how many specific products have been reported so far – points out Monique Goyens, director general of the European Consumer Organization BEUC.

Goyens and Russell remind that EU consumer organizations often carry out product tests on their own. In this way, they were able to It was established that some of the teeth whitening products available on the EU market contain substances harmful to health, and silicone baking molds were also censored. The organizations therefore call on legislators to adopt new product safety regulations without delay.

Meanwhile, in the EU, work is currently underway on new regulations to increase consumer safety. The EU should adopt new rules on toy safety in the spring, and finish work on the new rules on product safety in general by the end of March. They will replace the existing, already outdated directive and will include, among others: records of digital products and online sales.