Products that used to be tested for function, cost/performance ratio and safety norms are now also tested for harmful chemical substances
The presence of hazardous substances in E+E products is becoming more and more of an issue.
This is the result of more severe legislation that requires products to be free of substances such as heavy metals, flame retardants (PBB/PBDE), plasticisers or polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs).
The restriction of certain heavy metals and flame retardants has already been included in the RoHS Directive (2002/95/EC) and in similar directives in other countries (e.g China, Japan and California).
PAH measurement becomes a standard StiWa test.
PAHs were first brought into the discussion after laboratory analyses carried out by the prestigious German foundation for the testing of consumer products, Stiftung Warentest (Sti-Wa), well known to 96% of all Germans.
One third of them rely on the test result published by StiWa when they buy products.
StiWa was founded in 1964 and since then has tested and criticised more than 70,000 products.
The tests are conducted according to scientific methods by independent laboratories and their results are issued in a monthly magazine.
The foundations main priority is neutrality, as it is financed by the German government and is not allowed to publish advertisements.
Recently StiWa broadened the scope of its tests for consumer products and discovered PAHs, almost 0.2% in the cable duct of an angle grinder.
PAHS may include mutagenic, carcinogenic and/or immunotoxic substances.
The most important PAH substance is benzo[a]pyrene, used as a primary substance in analyses and evaluations and classified as carcinogenic.
The angle grinder mentioned also contained naphthalene, a substance that may cause skin irritation.
As a result StiWa advised against buying this item even if its mechanical features passed all tests successfully and the retailer therefore withdrew the affected products from the market.
Having found several other contaminated products StiWa has included PAHs and phthalates in its standard scope of testing for consumer products.
The products found to have elevated amounts of hazardous substances are downgraded in the StiWa ranking, with effects on the success of the respective products on the German market.
The problem has also been addressed by the major retailers, who now require their suppliers to state the absence of hazardous substances in their products, because of the health risk they pose and because of the specific "plastic odour" of these substances which might deter consumers from buying the affected products.
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