● Bubble glue, wax seal and "nano-glue blowing music" … … There are a large number of "three noes" toys with simple packaging and no production information online and offline, and no safety reminders or tips are used. However, they are very popular among primary and secondary school students because of their diverse colors and strange shapes.
● On social platforms, many parents complained that their children were burnt when playing with wax seals, and some parents said that their children had dizziness, nausea and rhinitis after playing, and attached photos and videos. The reporter bought two kinds of bubble gum, and washed his hands with clear water after playing, leaving a gum smell on his hands.
● Identify the quality and safety issues in the children’s toy market and strengthen supervision measures. Establish a complete and strict toy market access system, and put an end to the production of harmful toys on the production line. The establishment of a "blacklist" system will force producers and operators to enhance their consciousness of fulfilling the first responsibility of quality and safety.
□ Our reporter Zhang Shoukun
"Who invented this ‘ Poisonous toys ’ It’s for children. Don’t you have any children? My daughter-in-law bought back so much … …” Recently, a video of "poisonous toys" around children has sparked heated discussion among netizens.
In the video, bloggers showed various "poisonous toys" such as bubble gum, cream gum, slime mud and wax seal. In the message area at the bottom of the video, many people said with concern that some "poisonous toys" that are not up to standard and harmful to health have become "online celebrity toys" because of their various colors and strange shapes, and they are entering the children’s world with overwhelming force.
What "poisonous toys" are hidden around children? How to manage it? In this regard, the "Rule of Law Daily" reporter recently launched an investigation.
A variety of poisonous toys are favored.
There are health risks.
"How much is this toy that looks a bit like plasticine?"
On the evening of July 5, the reporter went to a stationery store in Hedong District, Tianjin and asked about the price of a toy. Stationery store owner told reporters that this is not plasticine, but a "bubble gum" with similar gameplay to plasticine.
The biggest feature of foaming glue is its fluidity, which looks sticky but never touches your hands, like jelly. Foaming glue can be played in a variety of ways. The common way is to add different pigments into different crystal pastes and foaming glue, knead and squeeze them to make another glue with unique color, or knead and press them to achieve the effect of decompression.
The boss told reporters that this toy sells very well, and many children and parents come to buy it every day. The reporter noticed that these foaming glues have various colors, but the packaging is relatively simple. There is only one plastic bottle and colloid, and there is no word on the bottle. "This is the case when purchasing goods. Don’t worry about buying it, as long as you don’t give it to children under 3 years old." The boss said.
The reporter bought four kinds of foaming glue, which cost 12 yuan. When you open it, there will be an irritating "fragrance" coming to your nose. When you put it on your hand, it will flow around like "water" and you can squeeze and knead it at will. The reporter bought foaming glue at the same price in another stationery store nearby. When it was opened, it smelled like paint. The reporters played with these two kinds of bubble gum for a while, then washed their hands with clear water, but there was still a gelatinous smell on their hands.
According to insiders, the reason why foaming glue can be shiny, elastic and fluid is because borax is added. Borax is the common name of sodium tetraborate, which is usually a white powder containing crystals and easily soluble in water. Widely used in industry, it can be used to produce daily chemical products such as detergents and pesticides. It should be noted that borax is highly toxic, and excessive intake can cause multiple organ cumulative poisoning. According to the Food Safety Law and the Hygienic Management Measures for Food Additives, borax is banned from being used as a food additive.
In the investigation, the reporter learned that toys such as foaming glue, wax seal (from an ancient way of sealing letters) and "nano-glue blowing music" are also selling hot online and offline, which are very popular among primary and secondary school students.
"Fun wax seal can exercise children’s concentration" and "Best gift for daughter" … … The reporter searched with "wax seal" as the key word on the short video platform, and many recommended videos appeared. However, on an e-commerce platform, searching with "wax seal" as the key word, there were tens of thousands of related products.
The reporter bought a set of wax seal in an online shop that has sold more than 20,000 items. After receiving the goods, he found that there were tools such as candles, wax particles and metal spoons. As seen offline before, there was no specific key information such as factory name and address, composition description, etc.
According to the tutorial, the reporter lit the candle, then put the wax melting spoon on the candle table, and put the colored wax particles in the spoon for heating. After a period of time, the wax particles melted and smelled a pungent smell. Subsequently, the reporter poured the melted wax particles on the pad and pressed it with the seal head to form a wax seal.
It is understood that wax particles of wax seal are not the same substance as ordinary candles, and their main components are rosin, turpentine and insect film. Rosin is toxic in solid state, but its toxicity is weak, which is not harmful to human body. When rosin encounters high temperature, when it changes from solid state to liquid state, it will release heavy metals and harmful compounds such as lead. After oxidation, rosin contains tar and ammonia gas.
Recently, the Shanghai Municipal Market Supervision Bureau exposed a number of wax seal products that were found in risk monitoring and had great security risks, and issued consumer warnings. In the monitoring, the prominent problems are that the temperature around the heating part of the product rises too fast, and there is a risk of scalding; Some wax seal products use candy instead of wax, and take "edible" as a selling point. However, these candies are packaged into wax seal gift packages, and there are no labels for traceability and inspection, so the quality and food safety are in doubt.
The reporter found that on the social platform, many parents complained that their children were burned when playing with wax seals, and some parents said that their children had dizziness, nausea and rhinitis after playing, and attached photos and videos.
And "nano-glue blowing music" looks like a roll of adhesive tape. Cut a section and heat it slightly, and blow it with a straw to make creative bubbles. Similarly, there is "bubble gum", which looks like travel toothpaste and is divided into many colors.
The reporter bought three kinds of nano-glue and bubble glue from online and offline respectively, and their packaging did not indicate the material of the products, and two of them did not indicate the manufacturer and production address. Public reports show that if the heating time of nano-glue is not well controlled, it will also release toxic gases.
The situation of bubble gum is also not optimistic. During the use, the reporter found that because the plastic blowpipe is only 5cm, once the mouth is loosened during the blowing process, the gas in the bubble will "ruminate" into the mouth through the blowpipe, accompanied by a pungent taste.
Previously, some media sent three kinds of bubble gum samples for inspection. The experimental data showed that acetaldehyde, ethyl acetate and other chemical components were detected in the volatiles of three kinds of bubble gum samples, which were all toxic and harmful to human body. After inhaling into the respiratory tract, these substances will have different effects on the human body. Testing experts said that although methyl acetate, ethyl acetate and butanone are low toxic substances, long-term inhalation can still cause nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain and diarrhea.
"Buy a ‘ Poisonous toys ’ Give it to the child. If the child has physical problems, who will be responsible? " This is the common aspiration of many parents under the popular science articles and videos related to "poisonous toys".
Three products are freely circulated.
Expose loopholes in supervision
The reporter’s investigation found that there are a large number of "three noes" toy products online and offline, and there are no safety reminders or tips.
"Then why are these goods allowed to be sold?" Many parents from Beijing and Tianjin, while expressing their concerns, also raised questions about toy standards and supervision.
Wang Jibiao, director of Beijing Yinghe (Haikou) Law Firm, said that in order to ensure the safety and quality of children’s toys and protect children’s personal health and safety, the National Technical Specification for Toy Safety has developed from the original 1986 edition to the current 2014 edition, and the standardization system has been continuously improved, forming the national standard 1-4 of GB6675-2014 National Technical Specification for Toy Safety, which will be mandatory on January 1, 2016.
"There are four mandatory national standards, and the requirements for toy production are more comprehensive and strict." Wang Jibiao said that the national standard has expanded the scope of application of the standard, not only for toys and materials designed or scheduled for children under 14 to play, but also for products that are not specially designed for play but have play functions for children under 14. At the same time, the standard improves the requirements for safety indicators such as sound, mechanical parts and combustion performance. The new standard also lists six kinds of plasticizers, such as dibutyl phthalate (DBP), as restricted substances.
According to Wang Jibiao, relevant departments in China have successively issued a series of policies in the field of toy safety. For example, in May 2022, the State Council issued the Notice on Printing and Distributing the Action Plan for New Pollutant Control, which incorporated the pollutant content control requirements into the mandatory national standards for toys, school supplies and other related products and strictly supervised their implementation.
According to lawyer Wang Yi, deputy director of the Management Committee of Beijing Yingke (Xi ‘an) Law Firm, in practice, there are still some imperfections in the relevant standards, such as the incomplete coverage of toy safety standards, the lack of standardization in the expression of toy safety labels, and the lack of clear provisions on the location of toy product labels, which leads to the inability to standardize safety labels.
“‘ Three noes ’ Products and products containing harmful substances that affect children’s health can be freely circulated in the market openly, exposing the regulatory authorities’ concern for such ‘ Online celebrity Poisonous Toys ’ There are loopholes in the supervision of, and some testing and supervision standards have lagged behind, which cannot cover ‘ Online celebrity Toys ’ Raw materials, coatings, structures, parts and other elements, to ‘ Online celebrity Toys ’ The unhealthy and unsafe factors provide a certain living space. " Wang Yi said.
In the investigation, the reporter found that these "toxic online celebrity toys" are often packaged simply, lacking product information, instructions for use and risk warning. Then, what information should be included in the packaging or instructions of toys, and should the raw materials used be clearly written like food?
Wang Yi said that according to GB5296.5— In the Instructions for the Use of Consumer Goods in 2006, in the instructions for the use of toys, the manufacturer should indicate the product name, product model, product standard number, age range, safety warning, the name and content of the main components of the plush toy material, the safe use method and assembly drawing, maintenance and maintenance, safe service life, the name and address of the producer and distributor, etc. At the same time, toy safety labels and instructions should also conform to children’s cognitive development.
"For the raw materials used in toys, it is very necessary to specify the specific materials and ingredients. Toys containing fillers should indicate the main ingredients or materials, such as safety materials: non-flammable, hygienic, non-hard, sharp substances, and new materials: new or disinfected materials." Wang Yi said.
Wang Jibiao introduced that according to the provisions of Article 55 of the Law on the Protection of Minors, the production and sale of food, medicines, toys, utensils, game amusement equipment and amusement facilities for minors shall conform to national or industrial standards and shall not endanger the personal safety and physical and mental health of minors. The manufacturer of toys should indicate the precautions in a prominent position, otherwise they may not be sold. If the provisions of this article are not fulfilled, the competent department shall order it to make corrections and impose administrative penalties according to law.
Blacklist and strengthen supervision
Claim for damages according to law
At the recent press conference on "Strengthening the quality and safety supervision of children’s and students’ products to protect the healthy growth of children", the relevant person in charge of the General Administration of Market Supervision said that since last year, the national market supervision departments have investigated and dealt with 4,371 cases of quality violations in the field of children’s and students’ products, involving goods worth 19.782 million yuan. This year, the inspection focused on the chemical, physical and combustible hazards of "online celebrity Toys", the dangerous stationery products with "three noes", missing warning notes or unreasonable age labels sold in shops around the campus, and the unqualified safety indicators of children’s textile products such as ropes and pH values.
For "online celebrity Toys", how can we raise the bottom line of quality and protect the safety of children and teenagers?
Wang Jibiao believes that in order to establish a complete and strict toy market access system, toy manufacturers should have corresponding production qualifications, produce in strict accordance with the safety production norms formulated by the state, and put an end to the production of harmful toys on the production line. At present, China has clearly implemented compulsory certification for six kinds of products sold in China: baby carriages, electric toys, plastic toys, metal toys, doll toys and ejection toys.
"Establish a dangerous toy reporting system according to the suggestions of relevant industry experts to prevent dangerous toys from continuing to circulate more effectively. After the establishment of this system, with the help of consumer associations, medical institutions and education systems, an effective channel for discovering dangerous toys can be established through multi-network linkage, and dangerous toys can be discovered at the first time and consumer warnings can be issued. " Wang Jibiao said.
Wang Jibiao said that at present, online sales of children’s products are developing rapidly, and online platforms need to assume regulatory responsibility for the goods or services sold. The platform should improve the entry threshold for sales, strictly observe the quality barrier, and smooth the complaint channels to ensure the quality and safety of children’s products, especially "online celebrity Toys". If the platform fails to fulfill its audit and security obligations, causing damage to consumers, the relevant departments shall investigate and deal with it according to law.
Wang Yi suggested that we should actively carry out the risk monitoring and evaluation system for children’s toys, and identify the quality and safety problems in the children’s toy market by collecting and analyzing information such as complaints, sampling inspection, law enforcement and enterprise production, and strengthen supervision measures. At the same time, the establishment of a "blacklist" system will force producers and operators to enhance their sense of self-discipline and enhance their consciousness of fulfilling the first responsibility of quality and safety. Relevant e-commerce platforms, market platforms and regulatory authorities rely on the "blacklist" to carry out targeted verification or inspection to build a safe defense line for children’s toys.
"It is necessary to cultivate consumers’ safety awareness, widely publicize the 3C logo, and let consumers choose toys with 3C certification. Don’t buy toys without information such as factory name and address, and cultivate correct consumption concepts." Wang Yi said.
If a child ingests harmful substances in the process of playing "poisonous toys", can he ask the merchant or producer to make compensation?
Xiaojuan Zhu, an associate professor at China University of Political Science and Law, believes that if the toy producer gives a risk warning, the parents fail to fulfill their duties as guardians, and the child’s improper use of toys leads to health damage, then the merchant or producer does not need compensation; If there is a lack of hazard and risk warning in the toy description or use tips, and the health damage caused to children is proved to be caused by toys, the manufacturer or merchant can be required to pay compensation according to the provisions of the Civil Code on product liability.
In Wang Jibiao’s view, in the process of actual rights protection, it should be noted that product liability is no-fault liability for producers, that is to say, regarding the causal relationship between product defects and personal and property damage to others, the manufacturer of products should bear the burden of proof for the absence of defects in products, and the product qualification certificate and factory inspection report issued by itself cannot be used as exemption certificates.
"Consumers generally only need to prove that excessive intake of harmful substances by biting, skin contact, breathing, etc. is an indispensable condition for damage; Harmful substances on toys increase the possibility of damage. When the above two elements are established, the equivalent causality is established. " Wang Jibiao said that consumers should consciously keep the relevant evidence items in case of injury and provide them to relevant departments for testing. At the same time, you should also provide purchase vouchers, hospital certificates, injury identification and other materials to safeguard your legitimate rights and interests.