EU Commission sets limits for preservatives in toys
The European Commission has published in the Official Journal three amendments to the toy safety Directive. These set limits for the use of:
--formamide, at emissions of 20μg/m3 in ambient air after 28 days in foam materials;
--methylisothiazolinone (MI), at 1mg/kg content in aqueous materials;
--benzisothiazolinone (BIT), at 5mg/kg content in aqueous materials;
--chloroisothiazolinone (CMI), at 0.75mg/kg content in aqueous materials; and
--the mixture MI and CMI, at 0.25mg/kg content in aqueous materials.
These limits were agreed by the EU committee responsible for the toy safety Directive in June (CW 11 June 2015).
The amendments enter into force on 13 December. However member states will only apply the new provisions for formamide and BIT from 24 May 2017, and for MI, CMI, and MI/CMI from 24 November 2017.
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