Still struggling, how to choose children's floor mats?
At present, there are many brands of children's floor mats on the market, with diverse styles and high and low prices. Materials can be divided into three types: EVA, PE (including EPE and XPE), PVC coating, etc.
Most of the publicity focuses of merchants are "environmental protection", "non-toxic", "safety", "China's compulsory product certification (that is, 3C certification)", "formaldehyde-free, formamide-free" and even "food-grade raw materials", "food-grade ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer is harmless to human body" and "European SGS and CTT certification".
However, is a clean and safe summer sleeping mat really "safe"?
Still struggling, how to choose children's floor mats?
According to reports, the toxic chemical formamide was detected in EVA mats, but most mats have problems such as excessive volatile VOC and serious odor.
Popular science, formamide is a compound, colorless and transparent liquid, with a slight ammonia smell. It is a raw material for synthesizing medicines, spices, dyes, etc. It can also be used as a solvent for synthetic fiber spinning, plastic processing and lignin casein ink production. But why is there formamide in the mat? It turns out that formamide comes from the high temperature decomposition of azodicarbonamide, a foaming agent used in the foaming process of floor mats. The principle of this foaming is to decompose at high temperature to produce gas, thus generating bubbles inside the polymer. Why use azodicarbonamide? Because it is cheaper and more convenient. However, the disadvantage is that the residues of decomposition products are relatively large and difficult to remove, because they are all in internal pores, and these substances will overflow from the polymer with the change of time and temperature. Formamide may be inhaled or contacted and penetrate into the skin, which will damage the blood and nervous system and cause cancer. It is more harmful to children.
Formamide has been listed as a substance with reproductive toxicity by the European Chemicals Agency, and is currently listed on the candidate list of substances of very high concern by relevant EU regulations. When formamide enters animals, it will reduce their reproductive ability and the survival rate of their young, and the harm to children is irreversible. In addition, formamide will release ammonia at high temperature, which will also cause harm to eyes and skin mucosa.
According to experts from testing institutions, children usually use floor mats in a relatively closed environment and play for a long time, so the formamide slowly released by children's floor mats will be continuously inhaled by children.
Among EU countries, Belgium is the first country to pay attention to the safety of foam cushions and take relevant measures. 20 10 12 10 Belgium issued a decree prohibiting the sale of floor mats containing formamide foam puzzles. After Belgium, France suspended the sale of toy foam puzzle pads containing formamide from August 1 and August/20 12. In Taiwan Province Province, China, in order to reduce the influence of formamide on children's health, the content of formamide in spliced plastic floor mats is also strictly limited to 2 mg/kg.
In the above report, there is also a very important message: because there is no mandatory national standard for children's floor mats in Chinese mainland, the floor mats currently sold in the market are all based on the relevant standards of toys in China, and this standard is a general standard, which only requires the flame retardancy of a few categories such as children's wear and plush toys.
Volatile VOC refers to volatile organic compounds, such as benzene, formaldehyde, toluene, xylene, ethyl acetate and ethanol. VOC in floor mats mainly comes from solvent residues of polymer materials and printing solvent residues. In order to attract children, various patterns are often printed on the floor mats. If the printing process is immature or the printing ink is unqualified, a lot of VOC will remain. The general feeling is that the smell is very strong, and the smell of inferior products is often inexhaustible. There are many substances in VOC that will cause various problems to children at very low concentrations, such as benzene is easy to cause cancer, xylene is easy to cause respiratory diseases, and various amines are easy to irritate eyes.
Let's learn about various certifications.
3C Certification: The full name of 3C Certification is "Compulsory Product Certification System", which is a product conformity assessment system implemented by China government to protect consumers' personal safety and national security, strengthen product quality management and abide by laws and regulations. The so-called 3C certification is the compulsory product certification system in China. The English name is China mandatory Certification and the English abbreviation is CCC.
SGS certification: SGS certification refers to the service that SGS proves the conformity of objectives according to standards, regulations and customer requirements. To carry out relevant certification, you must pass inspection, testing, appraisal and certification (SGS certification itself is not certification, but SGS certification service). Because this is an authentication service, it depends on the customer's requirements for the standards and regulations on which this authentication is based.
Oeko-Tex standard certification: that is, Oeko-Tex standard 100 is the most authoritative and influential textile eco-label in the world. Well, the authoritative certification of textiles.
Still struggling, how to choose children's floor mats?
How to choose children's floor mats?
First, the purchase channel, choose regular businesses, such as large supermarkets, stores, large e-commerce (preferably self-operated).
Second, look at the label. Does the label clearly indicate the manufacturer, production standards (if there are production standards, at least it means that the manufacturer is serious), and whether there are related contents of certification or testing.
3. smell the smell. If the smell is strong or strange, you should return it.
Fourth, avoid choosing fancy mats with many pictures printed on them. When using children's floor mats, it is important to avoid high temperature and direct sunlight to prevent polymer decomposition.