Notice Regarding Canada's Legislated Safety Requirements Related to Heavy Metal Content in Surface Coating Materials Applied to Children's Toys

October 2009

To: Manufacturers, Importers, Distributors and Retailers of Children's Toys, as well as Product Testing Laboratories

The purpose of this notice is to provide you with information concerning the legally allowable limits of particular heavy metals that may be found in the surface coatings applied to children's toys and to provide information on the Canadian test methods that are used to verify compliance with Canadian law.

In Canada, the legislated safety requirements for children's toys are specified within the Hazardous Products Act (HPA) and the Hazardous Products (Toys) Regulations. It is the responsibility of manufacturers, importers, distributors and retailers to ensure that any toy advertised, imported or sold in Canada, including second-hand toys, meets all applicable safety requirements as set out in the HPA and the associated regulations.

Item 9 of Part I of Schedule I to the HPA prohibits the advertising, importation and sale of toys, equipment and other products for use by a child in learning or play that have had a surface coating material applied to them that contains any of the following heavy metals:

• total lead in excess of 600 mg/kg;
• migratable heavy metals (antimony, arsenic, cadmium, selenium or barium) in excess of 0.1% (1000 mg/kg); or
• any compound of mercury introduced as such.

Surface coating materials on toys can include, but are not limited to, paints, varnishes and stickers/decals applied during product manufacturing.

During 2008, there were several recalls of children's toys due to excessive lead and/or barium content in their applied surface coatings. Health Canada is reminding companies of Canada's legislated safety requirements related to the heavy metal content in such coatings.

Health Canada advises that children's toys be tested for compliance with all Canadian legislated requirements before they are offered for sale on the Canadian market; in many cases, but in particular for heavy metals, these requirements and associated test methods, are different in Canada than they are in the United States and in Europe. Furthermore, manufacturers are encouraged to establish effective control systems for on-going monitoring of safety compliance throughout the design and manufacturing phases. Establishing effective controls for regular compliance monitoring of the supply chain is also critical for manufacturers, importers, distributors and retailers.

Health Canada's Product Safety Laboratory has developed test methods to assess heavy metal content in applied coatings on toys and the below noted test methods are available from the Product Safety Laboratory by contacting:

• Quality System Manager
  Product Safety Laboratory
  Health Canada
  Postal Locator: 6402A1
  1800 Walkley Road
  Ottawa, Ontario
  CANADA
  K1A 0K9
• phone: 613-952-3645
  fax: 613-954-8515
  email: PSL-LSP@hc-sc.gc.ca

• C02.2 - Determination of total lead in surface coating materials in consumer products
• C03 - Determination of Leachable Arsenic (As), Selenium (Se), Cadmium (Cd), Antimony (Sb), and Barium (Ba) in Applied Coatings
• C07 - Determination of Total Mercury in Surface Coating Materials and Applied Coatings

Other Toy Safety Information

In December 2007, Health Canada published a Notice Regarding Canada's Legislated Safety Requirements Related to Lead Content in Children's Toys, which addressed Canadian lead content requirements for children's toys and also summarized toy-related limits proposed in the Lead Risk Reduction Strategy for Consumer Products. This document can be found on the Health Canada website at the following URL:
http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/cps-spc/advisories-avis/info-ind/toy_lead-jouets_plomb-eng.php

Health Canada's Industry Guide to Canadian Safety Requirements for Children's Toys and Related Products, 2006 provides an overview of Canadian toy safety requirements. The Guide is available from the Health Canada Web-site at the following URL:
http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/cps-spc/pubs/indust/toys-jouets/index-eng.php

Health Canada's Information to Dealers of Second-Hand Children's Products provides an overview of safety requirements for second-hand children's products, including second-hand toys. The Guide is available from the Health Canada Web-site at the following URL:
http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/cps-spc/pubs/indust/secondhand-produits_usages/index-eng.php

Enquiries

If you have questions regarding the content of this notice or if you require further information, please visit healthcanada.gc.ca/cps or contact your nearest Health Canada Consumer Product Safety office:

British Columbia - Burnaby 604-666-5003; Alberta - Edmonton 780-495-2626, Calgary 403-292-4677; Saskatchewan - Saskatoon 306-975-4502; Manitoba - Winnipeg 204-983-5490; Ontario - Toronto 416-973-4705, Hamilton 905-572-2845; Québec - Longueuil 514-283-5488, Québec City 418-648-4327; New Brunswick - Moncton 506-851-6638, Fredericton 506-452-2405; Nova Scotia - Halifax 902-426-8300; Newfoundland - St. John's 709-772-4050.