Green Owl Toys Blog

Not only are manufacturers trying to cut costs but so are we – the consumer! We have contracted out Christmas to the lowest bidder. Which in the case of toys, mostly means manufacturers outside the EU. But what costs do we bare for cheaper toy production? In the past 2 years there have been several scandals where toy manufacturers shipped children’s toys containing lead (even crib toys were found to have lead paint!). I think, what worried the consumer the most is that these toy recalls were carried out by major toy manufacturers with factories in far flung parts of the world.

This doesn’t mean that we can blindly trust toys manufactured within the European Community. However, a factory that is just round the corner is easier to control than one that is thousands of miles away.

The toy industry has experienced a massive growth in the past say 20 years and so have adapted their manufacturing process to accommodate it. Legislation, on the other hand, has not been able to keep up-to-date with the changes until this year. The European Commission has released a new directive in July but will only be in force in its entirety by 2013. The new directive states, “For certain substances like nickel the tolerable limit values have been reduced and those heavy metals which are particularly toxic, like lead or mercury, may no longer be intentionally used in toys.”

The question to ask is how can we be responsible parents and not let our children come into contact with potentially harmful substances in the toys we buy? Well, unless you have a laboratory in your backyard it is pretty difficult to know exactly what the toy is made of! Another more practical way is follow the labels. You can either avoid all products that are labelled “Made in XXX” or choose those products that have reliable test certificates. Each European Union country has their own reliable test certificates and are always shown on the packaging. Please bear in mind the “CE”* mark does not indicate the toy has undergone any tests.