Toyograph

Toyograph® has been developed by the BTHA in association with Bureau Veritas as a ‘Chemicals toolkit’ exclusively for full BTHA members.

It has been designed to help identify the restricted substances that are likely to be present within commonly used toy materials so members can decide on appropriate, targeted compliance routes.

Toyograph® is an interactive web based tool designed to allow manufacturers to use their Bill of Materials to determine which materials are at risk of containing restricted substances above the limits specified in legislation or at levels that may be a safety concern.

The Toyograph can be used to:

  • Demonstrate compliance to standards and regulations as part of the Conformity Assessment
  • Assist in the obligation to ensure Conformity of Series Production with regards to chemical compliance
  •  Assist in carrying out the Chemical Safety Assessment as required by the Toy Safety Directive
  • Assist in the consideration of chemical safety and compliance during product development and product specification
  • Identify questions for factories concerning raw material content
The Toyograph is intended to cover commonly used materials and a defined legislative scope.
The chemical requirements of the Toy Safety Directive, which came into force on 20th July 2013, has increased financial pressure on companies when demonstrating compliance and the Toyograph® mitigates those costs by helping establish a risk assessment approach. This type of approach helps give members the option to target testing to higher risk areas rather than simply increasing testing spend.
The materials information in Toyograph has been compiled from a range of sources. Using the base material as a starting point, substances of concern were identified by reviewing a wide range of test data held by the toy industry and by using experience and knowledge of the type of chemicals that are usually found in specific materials. Additional information for each material was added from manufacturers’ data sheets, information held by the European Chemicals Agency and published scientific research. The substances most likely to be present were then cross-referenced with the requirements of the Toy Safety Directive, REACH and the RoHS Directive to identify a priority list of chemicals to give an indication of the safety or compliance issues related to the use of that material in toys. The supporting data and conclusions for each material were then validated by Bureau Veritas Consumer Product Services based on their extensive testing database and expert opinion to ensure the information in Toyograph is as accurate as reasonably possible. A review process is a key element in maintaining this accuracy and the material sheets will be regularly updated with changes in legislation and new information as it becomes available.
By using a bill of materials through Toyograph® full BTHA members and select Bureau Veritas clients can more easily identify which materials are at higher risk of containing restricted substances above the limits set out in legislation or at levels that may be a safety concern and once identified can target testing to ensure compliance. This new risk-based approach means that toy manufacturers are now able to focus their resources on those chemicals and substances that may actually cause concern and by doing so keep control of both testing costs and compliance concerns.
Access Toyograph website here