Too high a risk of exposure to blue light: Anses warns about children's toys containing LEDs

Some toys contain LEDs that emit blue light. This light can affect the retina and disrupt biological rhythms, including sleep, if exposed in the evening and at night. Z2 Marketing/Getty Images

The European standard on toy safety does not guarantee eye protection for children, while some LEDs, integrated into stuffed animals in particular, can affect their retina and disrupt their biological rhythms, according to French health authorities, who want it to be revised.

Stuffed toys, dolls, drawing tablets, trucks, spinning tops and even light-up board games: some toys contain LEDs that emit blue light. This light can affect the retina and disrupt biological rhythms, including sleep, if exposed in the evening and at night.

“Children whose eyes do not completely filter out blue light are particularly sensitive to these risks”, underlines in a press release the French National Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health Safety (Anses), recalling that it has been warning since 2010 about the effects of LEDs on vision.

Insufficient guarantee of standards

Requested by the French Ministry of Health, the agency looked into the new version of the European standard on the safety of electric toys, updated in 2020.

After examining the new protocol for verifying the eye safety of toys containing LEDs, it concludes that “the revised version does not guarantee compliance with the limit values ​​ensuring the protection of children's eyes”.

ANSES has identified “several errors” in the scientific study on which the protocol is based, errors “which can lead toys declared compliant to exceed exposure limit values”, according to the press release.

It also carried out tests on a sample of 19 LEDs contained in toys available on the market.

These tests have “confirmed that the 2020 version of the standard is less protective than the previous one, (dating) from 2005: eight of the toys tested could not have been placed on the market with the 2005 version of the standard, because the safety requirements were exceeded, compared to only one with the 2020 version“, details the agency.

Need to act quickly

“Given the health issues associated with children's exposure to excessively high levels of blue light and the importance of the standard to ensure the safety of toys sold”, Anses recommends initiating “rapidly” a revision of the relevant section of the European regulations.

In the meantime, it recommends a temporary return to the 2005 version to verify the eye safety of the toys in question.

To protect children from these risks, Anses also reminds that it is advisable to limit exposure to blue or white LEDs, and to avoid luminous toys two hours before bedtime, so as not to disrupt biological rhythms and falling asleep.