What is BS EN 71‑4 about?
BS EN 71‑4 discusses the safety of toys. BS EN 71‑4 is the fourth part of the multi-series, and focuses on the safety of experimental sets for chemistry and related activities. BS EN 71‑4 specifies requirements for the maximum amount, and in some cases, the maximum concentration of certain substances and mixtures used in experimental sets for chemistry and related activities.
These substances and mixtures are those classified as hazardous by the EC-legislation applying to hazardous substances and hazardous mixtures. These substances and mixtures, in excessive amounts, could harm the health of the children using them. These substances and mixtures are not classified as hazardous by the above-mentioned legislation, and any other chemical substance(s) and mixture(s) delivered with the experimental set.
Note 1: BS EN 71‑4 does not apply to combined sets, e.g., a combination of a chemistry set and a crystal growing set.
Note 2: BS EN 71‑4 also does not apply to toys that are covered by EN 71-13 (e.g., cosmetic kits). Requirements for certain other chemical toys are given in EN 71-5.
Who is BS EN 71‑4 for?
BS EN 71‑4 on experimental sets for chemistry and related activities is useful for the toy industry. Specific users of BS EN 71-4 are as follows:
- Product designers
- Quality control executives
- Safety inspection officers
- Regulating authorities
Why should you use BS EN 71‑4?
BS EN 71‑4 applies to experimental sets for chemistry and related activities including crystal growing sets, carbon dioxide generating experimental sets, and supplementary sets. It also covers sets for chemical experiments within the fields of mineralogy, biology, physics, microscopy, and environmental science whenever they contain one or more chemical substances and/or mixtures that are classified as hazardous according to regulation.
BS EN 71‑4 specifies requirements for marking, a contents list, instructions for use, eye protection and for the equipment intended for carrying out the experiments.
What’s changed since the last update?
BS EN 71‑4:2020 supersedes EN 71-4:2013, which has been withdrawn.
The main changes compared to the previous version are as follows:
- The requirements on closures for child-resistant containers have been revised
- The safety rule “Always wear eye protection.” has been added
- The requirements on marking of the primary packaging have been revised
- The former Annex A “Test methods for closures of reagent containers” has been deleted
- Rationales on “combined sets”, “use of substances/mixtures not provided with a chemistry set” and “markings, labelling and warnings” (A.6) have been added