Toy is a very important kind of consumer product for children. Children easily get injured when play with toys due to sensibility of their skin and lack of precautionary awareness. In order to protect the health and safety of children from potential risk of toy, Standardization Administration of P.R.C amended GB 6675-2003 National safety Technical Code for Toys. The new toy safety standard GB 6675-2014 was released on May 6, 2014 and will be enforced from January 1, 2016. GB 6675-2003 will be superseded from its implemented date.

Profile of GB 6675-2014

GB 6675.1-2014 Toy Safety Part 1 - Basic Code specified general safety requirement for toys which shall not be harm to children such as phthalates requirement, toy gun requirement etc; it also specified measures to implement this new mandatory toy standard, including CCC certification, market surveillance, random inspection, recall etc. GB 6675.2-2014 Toy Safety Part 2, GB 6675.3-2014 Toy Safety Part 3, and GB 6675.4-2014 are the requirements for physical and mechanical properties, flammability, and migration of certain elements respectively. Requirements and testing methods in these three standards were developed regarding to the general requirements specified in GB 6675.1, including limits and test method.

Major changes of GB 6675-2014

1. The scope is clearer. GB 6675.1-2014 clearly define that this standard not only applies to any product or material designed or intended for use in play by children under 14 years old, but also applies to products with play value and for children under 14 years old, even not originally designed for play. In other words, all products designed or intended, whether or not exclusively, for use with play value by children under 14 years old, shall comply with this standard.

2. Add new requirement of 6 Phthalates. The content of six phthalates (DBP, BBP, DEHP, DNOP, DINP, and DIDP) in accessible plasticized toy materials or components shall not exceed the following limits; it is equal to limits in European Union.

3. More strict with requirement of sound level. In order to protect children’s hearing, especially infants’, GB 6675.2-2014 accepts sound level as mandatory requirement and set out stricter limits. E.g. sound level (LpAeq) of continuous sounds produced by close-to-the-ear toys shall not exceed 65dB.

4. requirement of magnet and magnet component to minimize the hazards from ingestion, or inhalation created by magnet or magnet component.

5. Higher requirement of flammability. In order to avoid the fire hazard, GB 6675.3-2014 add requirement of flaming duration for “full or partial molded head masks”, and “flowing elements of toys to be worn on the head”. Meanwhile, the standard specifies different testing methods for different sizes of soft filled toys. New test method can accurately test the rate of spread of flame to ensure the safety of toys’ flammability

6. Extend the control range of hazardous substance. GB 6675.4-2014 adds requirements for accessible coatings, accessible liquids, pastes, and gels (e.g. liquid paints, modeling compounds) to minimize the hazards to children created by hazardous substance.

Relationship between GB 6675-2014 and ISO 8124

International organization for Standardization/Technical committee (ISO/TC 181 safety of toys) is responsible for publishing international toys safety standard ISO 8124 series, it has 25 participating countries including China, America, Japan etc.

GB 6675-2014 part 1-4 is in line with ISO 8124 except for modification of additional limits of plasticizers.

Toys Safety test: