On Thursday 3 June, the European Commission adopted an amendment to Directive 2009/48/EC on the safety of toys to limit the presence of aniline, a substance suspected of having carcinogenic properties, which is used in dyes for textiles, leather, and finger paints and can therefore be present in toys.
The amended Directive incorporates a limit value of 10 mg/kg for aniline in finger paints, where it exists in free form, and 30 mg/kg for aniline detected in textile and leather toy materials, which is the lowest concentration at which it can be detected by a specialised test to identify the substance when it is part of other mixtures.
“The new limits will help significantly reduce children’s exposure to this substance”, the Commission said in a statement.
They will apply in all Member States 18 months after their publication in the Official Journal of the EU.
A public consultation on limit values for aniline took place in 2020. The amendment could be adopted by Commission implementing act after the Toy Safety Committee gave its green light on 16 December 2020 and a 3-month review period for the European Parliament and the Council of the EU. (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)