The Mexican Official Standard NOM-252-SSA1-2011 has been issued by the Ministry of Health to limit the migration of certain heavy metals in toys and school supplies. This standard shall become effective on 13 Aug 2012 (90 calendar days after its publication). Here are the details of the Standard:

Objective
◇   New standard is issued to:

• Replace "NOM-015/1-SCFI/SSA-1994 Safety and Commercial Information in Toys - Toys and School Articles Safety. Bio-availability Limits of Heavy Metals in Articles Covered with Paints and Inks. Chemical Specifications and Test Methods";
• Set new bioavailability limits of certain heavy metals; and
• Update the test methods for the determination of the bioavailability of certain heavy metals in the materials of toys and school supplies.

Specifications
◇   For general requirements, toys intended for children up to age 12 and the school supplies for preschoolers shall meet the migration requirements of lead (Pb) in Table 1.
◇   However, toys intended for children under 3 years old and school supplies for preschoolers shall comply with the migration limit of certain heavy metals as stated in Table 1.
 
Table 1: Limits of element migration from toy and school supply materials

◇   Materials subjected to the analysis of toys and school supplies for preschoolers:

• Coatings of paint, varnish, lacquer, printing ink, polymer and similar coatings
• Polymers and similar materials including laminates, whether reinforced textile or not, but excluding other textiles
• Paper and paper board
• Textiles, whether natural or synthetic
• Glass, ceramics, metallic materials determined according to small parts measurement
• Other materials, whether mass coloured or not (e.g. wood, fiberboard, hardboard, bone and leather)
• Materials intended to leave a trace (e.g. pencils and pens)
• Modeling materials, including modeling clays and gels
• Paints, including finger paints, varnishes, lacquers, glazing powders and similar materials in solid or liquid form

◇   Test methods provided in Normative Appendix A shall be applied.
◇   The small part cylinder used in this standard is the same as that used in standards EN 71 or ASTM F963.
◇   Parts of toys and school supplies, which shall be analyzed, are mentioned in Annex of the Standard.
◇   The sampling procedure for products applied by this Official Mexican Standard is subject to the General Health Law.
 
Products not subject to this standard
 -   School supplies for use with young children, toys and their parts (which have been imported under temporary basis) for export
 -   Toys pigmented at the mass
 -   Packing and packaging, instructions, brochures and product information provided that they are not part of the toy or school item
 -   Microfoil globes over 10.16 cm in diameter that are inflated with helium
 -   Christmas and other holiday’s decorations with purely ornamental properties
 -   Games and toys intended for public use in parks, playgrounds, game sites or recreation areas, such as swings, sandboxes, slides, slides up and down, handrails, carousel, houses wide, tents for children and inflatable swimming pools except with embossed designs or drawings
 
For the purposes of the draft:
"School supplies for preschoolers" means material used as support in education with intended to facilitate or encourage learning in preschoolers (no more than six years of age), which have color as a component or in its substrate, such as graphite and color pencils, erasers, crayons, glue, scissors, blunt tip, clay, watercolors, markers, chalk, abacus, pencil sharpeners, etc.