As part of its ”Provamed” and “SOFT EST ” lines, German custom compounder Actega DS (Bremen; www.actega.com/ds), part of the Altana group, has developed environmentally friendly TPE products for the food, medical and toy sectors that get by completely without controversial substances such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) or bisphenol A (BPA) and at the same time contain no “problematic” plasticisers, silicone or latex. Actega said it focuses its efforts on protecting mothers and their babies from “critical chemicals.”

All products in the company’s portfolio comply with the latest standards and EU regulations, even some that have not yet taken effect, it notes. This applies to, among other things, the amendment of the EU’s Toy Safety Directive 2009/48/EC. The draft regulation published in the Official Gazette of the European Union in May, which will take effect in November 2018, is designed to prevent potential migration of BPA from food and beverage containers. This limits the BPA migration threshold to 0.04 mg/l. The Actega products are also claimed to be free of heavy metals and oil and in some cases display greater germ-reducing properties. The antimicrobial effect is achieved during the compounding process, the company explains.

That toys are free of harmful substances should be self-explanatory, but in fact this is not the case, as the compounder points out. The legal limit for PAHs in consumer products that come into contact with skin or the oral cavity is 1 mg/kg. For children’s products, the EU has reduced the threshold to 0.5 mg/kg. Despite the stricter regulations, product testers of the German consumer report magazine “Ökotest” found earlier this year that one in five soft plastic toys sold in Europe did not conform to the EU standards. Separately, inspectors for the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA, Helsinki / Finland; www.echa.europa.eu), the authority that administers REACH, found non-compliance rates for phthalates in childcare products to be “very high” – see Plasteurope.com of 19.02.2018.

Actega DS plans to present new applications in its TPE compounds lines at the “Fakuma” exhibition to be held in Friedrichshafen / Germany from 16-20 October 2018.