National foreword

This British Standard is the UK implementation of ISO 8124‑5:2026.

The UK participation in its preparation was entrusted to Technical Committee CW/15, Safety of toys.

A list of organizations represented on this committee can be obtained on request to its committee manager.

Contractual and legal considerations

This publication has been prepared in good faith, however no representation, warranty, assurance or undertaking (express or implied) is or will be made, and no responsibility or liability is or will be accepted by BSI in relation to the adequacy, accuracy, completeness or reasonableness of this publication. All and any such responsibility and liability is expressly disclaimed to the full extent permitted by the law.

This publication is provided as is, and is to be used at the recipient’s own risk.

The recipient is advised to consider seeking professional guidance with respect to its use of this publication.

This publication is not intended to constitute a contract. Users are responsible for its correct application.

Compliance with a British Standard cannot confer immunity from legal obligations.

This British Standard was published under the authority of the Standards Policy and Strategy Committee on 31 August 2026.

Foreword

ISO (the International Organization for Standardization) is a worldwide federation of national standards bodies (ISO member bodies). The work of preparing International Standards is normally carried out through ISO technical committees. Each member body interested in a subject for which a technical committee has been established has the right to be represented on that committee. International organizations, governmental and non-governmental, in liaison with ISO, also take part in the work. ISO collaborates closely with the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) on all matters of electrotechnical standardization.

The procedures used to develop this document and those intended for its further maintenance are described in the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 1. In particular, the different approval criteria needed for the different types of ISO document should be noted. This document was drafted in accordance with the editorial rules of the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2 (see www.iso.org/directives).

ISO draws attention to the possibility that the implementation of this document may involve the use of (a) patent(s). ISO takes no position concerning the evidence, validity or applicability of any claimed patent rights in respect thereof. As of the date of publication of this document, ISO had not received notice of (a) patent(s) which may be required to implement this document. However, implementers are cautioned that this may not represent the latest information, which may be obtained from the patent database available at www.iso.org/patents. ISO shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights.

Any trade name used in this document is information given for the convenience of users and does not constitute an endorsement.

For an explanation of the voluntary nature of standards, the meaning of ISO specific terms and expressions related to conformity assessment, as well as information about ISO's adherence to the World Trade Organization (WTO) principles in the Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT), see www.iso.org/iso/foreword.html.

This document was prepared by Technical Committee ISO/TC 181, Safety of toys.

This second edition cancels and replaces the first edition (ISO 8124‑5:2015), which has been technically revised.

The main changes are as follows:

The choice of digestion mixtures has been changed from being based on the final quantification instruments (ICP-MS or ICP-OES) to being based on the type of test part or sample material. A new digestion mixture (1:9 mixture of hydrochloric acid and nitric acid) has been introduced to replace the reverse aqua regia mixture.
An energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence (EDXRF) method for screening the contents of eight elements in plastic materials in toys has been included as an informative annex.
Certain elements of additional information contained in Annex A have been integrated into the main body of the text (e.g. Scope, 7.4).

A list of all parts in the ISO 8124 series can be found on the ISO website.

Any feedback or questions on this document should be directed to the user’s national standards body. A complete listing of these bodies can be found at www.iso.org/members.html.

Introduction

This document specifies a method for the determination of the total concentration of certain elements in toy materials. It can be used to decide whether there is a need to undertake migration testing in accordance with the method specified in ISO 8124‑3 or other equivalent standards, e.g. EN 71‑3 or ASTM F963.

NOTE 1 A material can be considered to conform to the requirements of ISO 8124‑3 if the total concentration results are below the soluble limits as prescribed in ISO 8124‑3:2020/Amd 1:2023, Table 1. If the soluble limits in ISO 8124‑3:2020/Amd 1:2023, Table 1 are exceeded, migration testing in accordance with ISO 8124‑3 is required for the determination of conformity.

This document presents a screening determination method for eight elements in plastics using the analytical technique of energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence (EDXRF) spectrometry as an option for quickly determining whether the screened part or section of a product requires quantitative analysis using the digestion method.

This document can be used when taking decisions on the conformity of material with regulatory requirements that impose restrictions on the total concentration of certain elements.

NOTE 2 Where legal conformity requires migration testing, this document can only be used to non-quantitatively confirm compliance with regulatory limits.

This document has been developed only for the eight elements listed in Table 1. The method specified in this document can be used for other elements provided adequate analytical performance is demonstrated. Manufacturers are encouraged to apply the test methods of this document and the limits from ISO 8124‑3 to raw materials used in the manufacture of toys to give increased certainty of conformity to the requirements of ISO 8124‑3.

For further information on the background and rationale behind this document, see Clause A.1.

1 Scope

1.1

This document specifies methods of sampling and analysing the total concentration of the elements antimony, arsenic, barium, cadmium, chromium, lead, mercury and selenium from toy materials and from parts of toys.

1.2

Digestion methods for the elements mentioned in 1.1 are specified for the following types of toy materials:

coatings of paint, varnish, lacquer, printing ink, polymer and similar coatings;
polymeric and similar materials, including laminates, whether textile-reinforced or not, but excluding other textiles;
paper, paperboard and cardboard;
natural or synthetic textiles;
metallic materials, whether coated or not;
other materials, whether mass-coloured or not (e.g. wood, fibreboard, hardboard, bone, and leather);
materials intended to leave a trace (e.g. the graphite materials in pencils and liquid ink in pens);
pliable modelling materials, including modelling clays and gels;
paints to be used as such in the toy, including finger paints, varnishes, lacquers and similar materials in solid or liquid form;
packaging materials that form part of the toy or have intended play value (e.g. boxes containing jigsaw puzzles or packaging on which the instructions are included in the case of games. Items such as blister packs containing simple instructions are not included in this category).

Digestion methods for glass, ceramic and other siliceous materials or fluorinated polymers or fluorinated polymer coatings are not described. These types of materials are outside the scope of this document.

1.3

Screening determination (without the need for sample preparation and digestion) of the elements mentioned in 1.1 is specified for plastics using energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence (EDXRF) spectrometry (see Annex B).

2 Normative references

3 Terms and definitions

4 Principle

5 Reagents and apparatus

5.1 Reagents

5.2 Apparatus

6 Selection and composition of test portions

6.1 Selection of test portions

6.2 Composition of test portions

7 Preparation of test portions

7.1 Overview

7.2 Coatings of paint, varnish, lacquer, printing ink, polymer and similar coatings

7.3 Polymeric and similar materials, including laminates, whether textile-reinforced or not, but excluding other textiles

7.4 Paper, paperboard and cardboard

7.5 Natural or synthetic textiles

7.6 Other materials, whether mass-coloured or not

7.7 Materials intended to leave a trace

7.8 Pliable modelling materials, including modelling clays and gels

7.9 Paints, including finger paints, varnishes, lacquers, and similar materials, in solid or liquid form

7.10 Metallic materials, whether or not partly coated

8 Digestion of test portions

8.1 Overview

8.2 Microwave digestion

8.3 Hot plate and hot block digestion

9 Elemental analysis

9.1 Methods of analysis

9.2 Method detection limit

10 Expression of results

11 Test report

Bibliography