Chemical Safety Assessments

Helping Toy Manufacturers Optimize Chemical Testing A safety assessment is mandatory under the EU Toy Safety Directive (2009/48/EC) and must be performed before a toy can be placed on the market. This requires the manufacturer to identify a toy’s potential hazards and assess potential exposure to those hazards. UL chemical safety assessments help toy manufacturers reduce and optimize chemical testing. With our risk-based approach, testing can be targeted to substances that can reasonably be expected to appear in a particular toy. Definition Before placing a toy on the market, manufacturers are required to carry out an analysis of the chemical, physical, mechanical, electrical, flammability, hygiene and radioactivity hazards that the toy may present, as well as an assessment of the potential exposure to such hazards. A chemical safety assessment is one of the major parts of a complete safety assessment, and assesses the likelihood of prohibited or restricted substances in the toy. It includes the evaluation of all available relevant information to assess risks arising from the manufacture or use of a substance in a toy. The Chemical Safety Assessment process must be documented adequately and the results recorded. The purpose is to confirm that all industry known risks related to a specific substance are considered. How UL Can Help You UL Chemical Safety Assessments can help assess compliance with international chemical restrictions. Additionally, UL can perform customized global assessments based on market access needs. Our thorough assessments gather information on materials and substances used in the manufacture of the toy and their accessibility from sources, including Bill of Materials (BOM), Bill of Substances (BOS) and Safety Data Sheets (SDS). UL uses a sample or prototype of a toy, along with information regarding the intended user and the intended and foreseeable use, to help identify potential exposure routes that need to be considered as part of a Chemical Safety Assessment. Benefits Chemical Safety Assessments help toy manufacturers reduce and optimize chemical testing. With UL’s risk-based approach, testing can be targeted to substances that can reasonably be expected to appear in a particular toy. Other benefits of a UL chemical safety assessment include: Global coverage – Global database of 4500+ regulations from 116 countries and lists of restricted substances allow UL to provide a customized chemical safety assessment based on specific market access needs. Alert notification – All UL Chemical Safety Assessment reports are stored confidentially for our customers. If there are changes to the regulatory requirements in the markets covered by a specific chemical safety assessment, our customers are alerted to the revision and the potential need to review the chemical safety assessment. Technology and expertise – UL reports are more than simply a list of substances that could be found in a toy’s materials. A UL subject matter expert reviews the preliminary chemical safety assessment to gauge risk factors and provide a fact-based report of assessment findings, along with a clear list of recommended actions, where required. Identification UL identifies the materials and substances contained in the toy by review of the supplied BOM, BOS and SDS information. Chatacterization UL utilizes our chemical database, powered by The WERC® to determine if identified materials and substances are restricted, or are known or suspected to present a hazard. Assessment UL chemical experts evaluate the output from our chemical database to determine risk levels associated with identified substances. Proprietary Chemical Database Platform TheWERCS (Worldwide Environmental and Regulatory Compliance Software) Web application is a global leader providing software tools and services, and a member of the UL family of companies. The application pulls from a global database of more than 4,500 regulations and lists from 116 countries to identify restrictions and classification for actual substances used. International information covering, regulations, legislation, proposed regulations and voluntary lists Customizable reporting to incorporate a review of substances against specified regions or requirements Information maintained with quarterly reviews and updates