Dr. Anne Bonhoff, Global Head of Chemistry at UL-STR, briefed manufacturers alongside Peter Trillingsgaard, Chairman of the Toy Industries of Europe’s (TIE) Technical Committee, and U.S. CPSC Chairman Inez Tenenbaum during the conference. Topics included changes brought about by the new EU Toy Safety Directive, third-party testing, European chemical legislation for toys and children’s products and aligning U.S., European and Asia Pacific test methods for children’s product safety.

Dr. Bonhoff advises manufacturers to stay abreast of new regulations and seek advice from experts in the testing industry. “New technology has enabled the discovery of potentially hazardous substances at even lower levels, which leads to new regulations. But legislation doesn’t tell you how to analyze it in the lab, so the industry has to constantly develop new ways to test for and analyze these chemicals,” she said.