There’s a new addition to the ISO Toy Standard series. It’s ISO 8124-7, “Safety of toys – Part 7: Requirements and test methods for finger paints.” This brings the series total to 8 Parts. The new Part 7 addresses the particular concerns that arise when young children are in prolonged contact with paint material.
What does ISO 8124-7 specifically address? The new standard contains requirements to reduce the risks to children when using finger paints. What kinds of risks could those be? Well, some of the finger paint could be ingested, flicked into an eye, or left on a child’s skin for a long time. So the ingredients used in finger paints need to be carefully screened for impurities and other hazards.
What information will you find in the ISO 8124-7? The standard has the usual scope, referenced documents, and terms and definitions sections to begin with. The bulk of the standard is contain in clause 4, requirements. Here you get information on such things as colorants, preservatives, taste and smell, migration of certain elements, and so on.
However, the 7 Annexes actually contain the bulk of the information in this document. Annex A (Rationale) and Annex B (Non-exhaustive list of colourants…) are both informative. The next 3 Annexes are normative (must be obeyed). They are:
- Annex C on the method for the detection of certain azo colorants and determination of free primary aromatic amines.
- Annex D, a list of preservatives allowed for use in finger paints and the maximum allowable concentrations
- Annex E, the method for the determination of hexachlorobenzene, polychlorinated biphenyls and benzo[α]pyrene.
Annex F (Ingredients used in the manufacture of finger paints) and Annex G (Labelling guidelines and manufacturer’s markings) are again informational only. There’s a 21-item bibliography to complete this 62 page standard.
Here at Document Center Inc., we regularly sell the various standards having to do with toy safety. We also are a big fan of the TIA, Toy Industry Association, here in the U.S. They do tremendous work participating in the developmental work on standards like the ISO 8124-7. And they have outreach programs to help toy manufacturers in non-U.S. jurisdictions learn how to design and manufacture toys to meet those requirements.
If you need the ISO 8124-7 or any of the other toy standards available, just head to the Document Center Inc. webstore at www.document-center.com. You’ll be able to search for the standards you need right from the homepage. Or go to our Document Center List of Standards on Toys to browse for the document that’s right for you. And here’s a link directly to the order page for the ISO 8124-7.
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