Germany’s Committee for Product Safety (Ausschuss für Produktsicherheit, AfPS) published a new set of specifications for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) under the voluntary GS-Mark (Geprüfte Sicherheit Mark) in May 2019.  

Published as AfPS GS 2019: 01 PAK of May 15, 2019, the new requirements contain several important changes and clarifications. These include:

·        Removing acenaphthylene, acenaphthene and fluorene – reducing the number of PAHs from 18 to 15

• Expanding category scopes:

1. Category 1 ‘Materials intended to be placed in the mouth, or materials in toys with intended long-term skin contact (> 30 seconds)’ will include ‘articles for children up to three years of age’
2. Categories 2a and 3a changed from ‘Toys in the scope of Directive 2009/48/EC’ to ‘products used by children under the age of 14’

• Components that are only accessible for a short period of time during basic maintenance or work extensions are not considered 
• Only PAHs in materials that have been quantified from 0.2 mg/kg are considered for the sum of 15 PAHs
• GS Mark certificates issued before July 1, 2020 will continue to be valid after this date (AfPS GS 2014:01 PAK will become invalid after June 30, 2020)

The fifteen PAHs covered by the new specifications are:

1. Benzo[a]pyrene
2. Benzo[e]pyrene
3. Benzo[a]anthracene
4. Benzo[b]fluoranthene
5. Benzo[j]fluoranthene
6. Benzo[k]fluoranthene
7. Chrysene
8. Dibenzo[a,h]anthracene
9. Benzo[g,h,i]perylene
10. Indeno[1,2,3-cd]pyrene
11. Anthracene
12. Fluoranthene
13. Phenanthrene
14. Pyrene
15. Naphthalene

To see the full list of limits per Category for each PAH, look at SGS SafeGuard 136/19.

The new specifications will become mandatory for the issuance of a GS-Mark on July 1, 2020, thereby replacing the AfPS GS 2014:01 PAK document.

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