About Hazardous Chemicals in Consumer Products
ECHA‘s EU-wide enforcement project
found that products sold to consumers contained excessive levels of hazardous chemicals
such as lead and phthalates.
In inspections carried out by 26 European Union Member States, more than 2,400 products,
most of them intended for consumers, were checked, and more than 400 of them
(18% of the total products inspected) were found to be in violation of European Union laws.
The most common types of products violating the regulations were:
-
Electrical devices such as electric toys, chargers, cables, and headphones.
52% of these products were found to be non-compliant, mainly due to lead in solder,
phthalates in soft plastic parts, or cadmium in circuit boards. -
Sports equipment such as yoga mats, cycling gloves, balls, or rubber handles
on sports equipment.
18% of these products were unsuitable, mainly due to SCCPs and phthalates in soft plastic
and PAHs in rubber. -
Toys such as bath/water toys, dolls, costumes, play mats, plastic figures,
stress toys, outdoor toys, slime, and childcare products.
16% of non-electrical toys were found to be non-compliant due to restricted substances
such as PAHs, nickel, boron, or nitrosamines, as well as phthalates, mostly found in
soft plastic parts. -
Fashion items such as bags, jewelry, belts, shoes, and clothing.
15% of these products were found to be non-compliant due to phthalates, lead,
and cadmium content.
Where non-compliant products were identified, enforcement measures were taken and most
of the products in question were withdrawn from the market.
The rate of non-compliance was found to be higher for products originating from
outside the European Economic Area (EEA) or whose origin was unknown.
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