We welcome the new checks!

You may have seen in the news recently that Claudia Winkleman has been pushing for higher safety measures when it comes to kids fancy dress costumes after her daughters sadly caught fire last year, Here at I Love Fancy Dress we take safety very seriously, Our Childrens costumes go through a set of strict tests to ensure that should something like this happen it will not put them in any further danger.

We currently conform to the EU Laws of EN71 tests 1, 2 and 3. These are the required tests for 'Fancy Dress Costumes' (Toys)

We are fully supportive of any new laws that may come into place and are highly in agreement that higher safety standards should be put in place for Childrens Costumes.

 

What are the Three Tests?

 

EN71 -1

This test is concerned with the mechanical and physical elements of the toy. In short it is checking to see if any of the mechanical or physical features of the toy could injure a child whilst it is being played with/used.

This includes, among other things, determining if there are sharp points on the toy or if there are parts on the toy that could easily be swallowed.

 

EN71-2

This regulation looks at a number of different factors which could lead to a injury to a child due to flammability. These include determining the presence of any flammable materials that are prohibited in children's play things, how long the item burns for and how quickly flames spread across it . Different types of items have different rates at which they are deemed to have passed.

AnchorCert Analytical is able to carry out flammability testing for the following products: 

• Fabrics
• Toys
• Accessories
• Wigs/Extensions/Hair Pieces
• Fancy Dress/Face Masks
• Beards/Moustaches
• Head Dresses/Head Masks

 

EN71-3

This involves carrying out tests to determine compliance with BS EN 71-3: 2013, the recognized standard prescribed by the Toy Safety Directive. It restricts the amount of lead released (as opposed to the lead content) and it also identifies eighteen additional other toxic elements which can be even more harmful than lead.

The reason for analysing all of these potentially toxic elements is to allow for lead being substituted with other elements for example, cadmium which is more toxic than lead but cheaper. Many instances of this have been reported in the USA where lead is limited.

EN71-3: 2013 entered into force July 2013, replacing EN71-3:1995. The new standard restricts the use of 19 elements as opposed to 8. 

 

 

All infortmation found at: http://anchorcertanalytical.com/testing-services/EN71-Section-1