The European Committee for Standardization has Published a New Standard for Microbiological Safety of Toys (EN 71-20)

EN 71-20:2025

Scope

Microbiological safety of toys containing accessible aqueous media 
(e.g. Paste, putty, finger paint, liquid or gel)
The following items does not apply to EN 71-20.
• Materials that are inaccessible during normal use or after reasonably foreseeable abuse;
• Food;
• Cosmetics (not include play cosmetics for use on toy)
• Components of toys covered by EN 71-13 where these are in the scope of cosmetic products regulation (EC) no. 1223/2009, or comprise only recognized food flavors and food ingredients following EC regulations;
• Experimental sets covered by EN 71-4.

Exemption

Single use component is exempted for Microbiological challenge 
(preservation effectiveness)

Accessibility

Test for accessible in normal use and reasonably foreseeable abuse

Test method

Refers to European pharmacopoeia 11.8 (1/2025) methods and ISO series of cosmetics testing for Microbiological cleanliness and Efficacy of antimicrobial preservation 

Microbiological cleanliness

Total aerobic microbial count (TAMC) 

--

Yeast and mould (YM)

--

Total viable count (TAMC + YM)

2,000 cfu/g or ml for Toys intended for children under 36 months;
20,000 cfu/g or ml for all others

Staphylococcus aureus

Absent in 1 ml or g

Pseudomonas aeruginosa    

Absent in 1 ml or g

Candida albicans    

Absent in 1 ml or g

Escherichia Coli

Absent in 1 ml or g

Salmonella spp.    

Absent in 1 ml or g

bile-salts tolerant gram-negative bacteria    

1,000 cfu/g or ml

Log Reduction

7 Days

14 Days

28 Days

Bacteria

NI

NI

NI

Fungi

NI

NI

NI