Overview
ISO 8124-7:2015 - Safety of toys - Part 7: Requirements and test methods for finger paints - sets chemical, formulation and labelling requirements specifically for finger paints intended for children. The standard addresses risks from incidental ingestion, skin contact and eye exposure by specifying permitted substances, impurity limits and required test methods. ISO 8124-7:2015 applies only to finger paints (including powders to be mixed per manufacturer’s instructions) and explicitly excludes face or body paints.
Key topics and technical requirements
- Scope and classification: Finger paints must not be classified under key GHS health hazard classes (acute toxicity, skin/eye irritation, sensitization, mutagenicity, carcinogenicity, reproductive toxicity, specific target organ toxicity, aspiration).
- Colourants: Only colourants that meet the standard’s hazard and purity rules may be used. Azo colourants that can release specified primary aromatic amines on cleavage are prohibited (testing method in Annex C). Annex B lists commonly used compliant colourants.
- Primary aromatic amines: Certain amines (e.g., benzidine, 2‑naphthylamine) must be non-detectable; other carcinogenic amines are limited to a total of 20 mg/kg and 10 mg/kg per individual (see Annex C methods).
- Preservatives: Only preservatives listed in Annex D are allowed, with maximum concentrations specified in Table D.1; methods referenced in EU cosmetics legislation may be used for quantification.
- Impurities and migration: Limits are set for polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs
