The last thing on a parent’s mind when purchasing a toy for his or her child is whether its chemical composition would pose a threat to their child’s health. But toy safety is an issue taken very seriously worldwide. This is why, although there have not been any serious reported incidents of poisoning from toys in the country, the Trinidad and Tobago Bureau of Standards (TTBS) is taking a proactive stance and updating the standards which regulate the importation of toys; bringing it up-to-date with international standards.
“We’ve had a number of compulsory standards for safety of toys for a number of years starting from 2002 and we are in the process of updating the standard that deals with the chemical migration of elements. So basically we’re talking about toxic chemicals that may be present in toys, “the acting manager of the Standardization Division of the TTBS, Nadita Ramachala explained in an interview with Guardian Media on Tuesday.
“So we are updating the national standard requirements following the international standard requirements to ensure toys are safe for use by young children.”
The standard would establish migration limits for the presence of eight substances in toys and introducing new labelling and testing requirements. These substances are antimony, arsenic, barium, cadmium, chromium, lead, mercury, and selenium.
“This specific standard deals with, basically, hazardous chemicals and the intent is to look at the toys and assess the limits (of substances in it). What normally happens is a child could ingest accidentally the toy and then that could pose a safety hazard if there are too much of these particular toxic chemicals in the toys,” Ramachala said.
The standard is currently out for public comment but when it comes on stream, the TTBS would be monitoring and enforcing them at two levels.
Acting manager of the Implementation Division of the TTBS, Reesa Thomas explained that test would be conducted at the port of entries for these toys which would be sent back to a lab for processing. They would also be conducting surveillance in the market and any toys found to be in defiance of the standard would be pulled from the shelves.
Ramachala, however, said they would be working with importers and business community to inform them of the new standards and “bring them in line with the requirements of the standard.
For concerned citizens, members of the public can contact the TTBS to enquire if a specific toy has been approved by them. Ramachala also advises the public to exercise due diligence when purchasing toys by looking for other safety markers on the packaging as well as visiting various websites online to see if there are recalls for any specific toys.