European Union (EU) introduces a new
standard for young children’s drinking equipment that combines and supersedes
two previous standards.
The European Committee for Standardization (Comité Européen de
Normalisation, CEN) published EN 14350:2020 ‘Childcare articles – Drinking
Equipment – Safety requirements and test methods’ in June 2020. In addition to
combining two previous standards, the new standard also introduces several
important changes. These include:
- Clause 3 ‘Terms and
Definitions’ – restructured with revision of existing terminologies and
addition of new entries - Clause 4 ‘Description’ –
expands pictorial representations of different pieces of drinking equipment and
their design features by including a push-pull valve, protective covers,
handles, a clip, and loops - Clause 5 ‘Test equipment
and tolerances’ – completely new section describing the test equipment to be
used - Clause 6 ‘Construction
and mechanical properties – General and sample preparation’ – sample
preparation and conditioning have been revised - Clause 7 ‘Construction
and mechanical requirements and tests’ – expanded and restructured to improve
the order of testing. New requirements for decoration, inscription and decals
have been introduced, and the test method has been modified - Clause 8 ‘Chemical
requirements and test methods’ – expanded and restructured but substances
covered by other pieces of harmonized legislation are excluded, including:- Phthalates falling under
entries 51 and 52 to Annex XVII of Regulation (EC) 1907/2006 ‘Registration,
Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) - Food contact substances
(e.g. bisphenol A (BPA)) in Regulation (EU) 10/2011 ‘Food Contact Plastics’
- Phthalates falling under
- Annex A ‘Warnings’ –
completely new normative annex with translation of warnings in 24 languages - Annex B ‘Rationales’ –
completely new informative annex providing explanations for the inclusion of
some of the requirements in the standard - Annex C ‘Method for the
determination of 2-mercaptobenzothiazole (MBT) and antioxidants specified in
Table 7’ – informative annex has been revised with additional information - Annex E ‘Good practice
for visibility and legibility’ – completely new informative annex for warnings,
product, and purchase information as well as instructions for use
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The new
standard also has migration limits for 19 soluble elements, including two forms
of chromium. The previous standard only had migration limits for 8 substances, of
which chromium was included as a single group. The migration limits (mg/kg) in
EN 14350:2020 are:
- Antimony (Sb) – 120
- Arsenic (As) – 10
- Barium (Ba) – 4,000
- Cadmium (Cd) – 3.6
- Lead (Pb) – 5.0
- Mercury (Hg) – 20
- Selenium (Se) – 100
- Aluminum (Al) – 6,000
- Boron (B) – 3,200
- Chromium (VI) – 0.002
- Cobalt (Co) – 28
- Copper (Cu) – 1,660
- Manganese (Mn) – 600
- Nickel (Ni) – 56
- Strontium (Sr) – 12,000
- Tin (Sn) – 40,000
- Organic tin – 2.5
- Zinc (Zn) – 10,000
NB. For
chromium (VI), the sample is considered
a ‘Pass’ if the result is below the Limit of Quantification (LOQ) of EN 71-3.
EN 14350:2020
covers drinking equipment aimed at children aged zero to 48 months. It includes
safety requirements relating to materials, construction, performance, packaging,
and product information. It combines and supersedes two previous standards:
- EN 14350-1:2004 ‘Child use and care articles –
Drinking equipment – Part 1: General and mechanical requirements and tests’ - EN 14350-2:2004 ‘Child use and care articles –
Drinking equipment – Part 2: Chemical requirements and tests’
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The new
standard is to be given the status of a national standard by December 2020,
with conflicting national standards being withdrawn by June 2021. It is
expected that the standard will be harmonized under Directive 2001/95/EC, the
so-called General Product Safety Directive (GPSD), once it is officially
accepted by the European Commission (EC) and published in the Official Journal
of the European Union (OJEU).
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demonstrating the safety and quality of juvenile products being brought to the
market. Learn more about SGS’s
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