Just in time for the Christmas toy rush, the European Parliament has today adopted new EU toy-safety regulations aimed at making our toys safer for toddlers.
According to Ireland South MEP Cynthia Ní Mhurchú, these new EU laws mark a major step forward in protecting the health and development of our children.
New laws prohibit a broader range of harmful chemicals in toys — including endocrine disruptors, PFAS and certain bisphenols — that pose particular risks to young minds and bodies.
Importantly, the regulation requires manufacturers to carry out comprehensive safety assessments, covering not only the chemical and physical hazards of toys, but also emergent risks associated with digital play — such as mental-health impacts from connected or AI-enabled toys.
According to Ní Mhurchú,
“Babies and children are particularly vulnerable to harmful chemicals as they are still developing. The EU Toy Safety Directive is about reducing those chemicals in cheap toys. It is also about protecting the mental health of our children from new digital and AI based toys”
“The purpose of these new laws are to protect our children from invisible dangers such as harmful chemicals and ensuring that warnings such as age restrictions are clearly visible on the products. Toys are an essential part of a child’s upbringing, but we want children to be able to enjoy their toys without doing them any harm”
The EU Commission prepares an annual report into unsafe product alerts in the EU market. Toys feature heavily in these reports, coming in second place, after Cosmetics, in 2023.
ENDS
