EU - SCHEER - Final Opinion on the safety of the presence of cobalt in toys

​The Toy Safety Directive 2009/48/EC prohibits the use of substances in toys if those substances are classified as carcinogenic, mutagenic or toxic for reproduction. To permit the use of a CMR substance, a derogation of this rule is possible when the substance is evaluated by a relevant Scientific Committee and found to be safe in particular in view of exposure. Another possibility for derogation is that there are no suitable alternative substances or mixtures available. Cobalt has been classified as carcinogenic category 1B, mutagenic category 2 and toxic for reproduc​tion category 1B and is present in toys as an impurity in nickel and nickel-containing alloys, or cobalt may be used intentionally e.g. in cobalt-containing colourants. The SCHEER evaluated the safety of the use of cobalt in to​​ys based on a report provided by Toy Industries of Europe (TIE) and additional information from publicly available literature. The SCHEER identified possible sources for exposure to cobalt from toys which need to be considered. With the exception of few cases (e.g. cobalt-containing metals for conduction of electric current), information and data essential for an adequate exposure assessment were lacking. In these cases, therefore, no quantitative exposure and hence risk assessment was possible.