The new national standard for children's furniture standardizes the furniture market

A few years ago began brewing in the drafting of national standards of children's furniture "Children's furniture general technical conditions" (hereinafter referred to as "standards") will be officially implemented on August 1 this year. This standard, which is considered by the industry as "filling the standard gap in the field of children's furniture", makes clear requirements for the safety and environmental protection of children's furniture, and the safety and warning parts are more mandatory. What are the provisions of these standards? Why is it so required?

"To ensure the quality and safety of children's furniture , it also needs to be regulated by national standards." Since 2008, Shenzhen Institute of Metrology and Quality Inspection, where Zhang Shuyan is located, has undertaken the task of drafting standards. She said that this standard is "one of the few mandatory national standards in furniture, which fills the gap in the general technical requirements for children's furniture at home and abroad. She said that the standard covers wood, metal and plastic materials. Furniture products.

     "Now about 40% of the children in our cities have their own rooms and furniture, and this number is still increasing year by year." Zhang Shuyan, a senior engineer who participated in the drafting of the standard, Shenzhen Metrology and Quality Inspection Institute, told reporters that in recent years The demand for similar furniture is increasing, but many products are only bright in appearance, and there is not much difference in the design, materials and ordinary furniture of the product itself. There is a lack of effective protection measures for children in terms of product structure safety and harmful substances.

The core part of the children's furniture standard is the safety requirements and warning signs. The safety requirements include three parts: structural safety, hazardous substance limit and flame retardant performance. Different from other non-mandatory items such as deviations in external dimensions, appearance, physical and chemical properties, and wood moisture content, safety provisions and warning signs are listed as mandatory requirements.

Some furniture is designed with holes or gaps, and the standards also make it clear. "Because the standard is applicable to children aged 3-14 years old, the requirements for holes and gaps in the standard are <6mm or ≥ 12mm, which is to avoid pinching children ’s fingers and preventing children ’s hands from being stuck. It is said that children naturally like to play, and may hide in a closed cabinet when playing hide and seek games. In order to avoid the harm caused by enclosed furniture to children and prevent children from hiding for a long time in the furniture and causing suffocation, the standard stipulates that the continuous space of the enclosed cabinet is greater than 0.03m3 and the internal dimensions are greater than 150mm. "That is to say, a closed children's furniture, when it can accommodate a child, should have sufficient ventilation and ventilation functions to ensure that there is no potential risk of suffocation for children. The specific data are specified in the standard. She said.

In terms of other structural safety, the standard stipulates that all high table and cabinet products with a height greater than 600mm should provide connections for fixing products on buildings, and in the instructions for use, clearly indicate the method of installation and use; The ropes used, the casters of the chair and the pneumatic rods of the swivel chair are included in other structural safety parts. For some furniture, textile fabrics and leather parts may be used. There may be problems that the PH value exceeds the standard and causes discomfort for children. The standard is also limited.

The children ’s furniture standard for the first time added restrictions on harmful substances such as formaldehyde and decomposable aromatic amines in leather and textile fabrics, and plasticizers such as phthalic acid in plastics. Among them, the limit value of free formaldehyde is more stringent than that for ordinary furniture. Consistent with the British FIRA / FRQCC001 standard requirements. Zhang Shuyan said, "The standard harmful substance limits are basically consistent with international standards in the same industry, which meets the needs of the children's furniture market at home and abroad, and can also protect children's healthy growth."

In the future, children's furniture will be uniformly labeled with the applicable age range of products, such as "3-6 years old", "7 years old and above", etc., to facilitate the purchase of parents of children of different ages. In addition, the standard also clearly stipulates that during the installation and use of children's furniture products, specific items with potential hazards should be given warnings to avoid personal injury to children. "For example, if the product needs to be installed, the product instructions should be marked" Caution! This product is only allowed for adult installation, children should not be near. " A warning sign stating "Warning! Be careful of pinching". In addition, the fonts of safety warnings such as "Danger", "Warning" and "Caution" shall not be less than No.4 boldface, and the contents of the warning shall not be less than No.5 boldface.