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ISO 3533:2021: New International Safety Standard for Adult Toys

16 May 2022
orig pink adult toy on table with smart phone controlled app 344px

Adult toys, or sex toys, are marketed and sold worldwide. These products are intended to be in touch with physically sensitive and vulnerable parts of the body. Yet, existing regulations around the globe did not consider adult toys as a special type of product. Instead, compliances are simply determined by using standards for general consumer goods. The specificity of adult toy, especially on the safe use point of view, has not been fully considered, standardized, and addressed. Furthermore, in some circumstances, it may be embarrassing for the users to report issues related to these products, not until major incidents occurred, such as severe injuries and hospitalization. An international standard on adult toys for manufacturers’ and consumers’ reference was therefore demanded.

In Sept 2021, ISO published the first-ever international standard for adult toys: ISO 3533:2021 – Sex toys — Design and safety requirements for products in direct contact with genitalia, the anus, or both. It aims to provide a guidance for adult toys manufacturers on the design of safe-to-use products and to safeguard the users
The ISO standard for adult toys considered various aspects of the design and safety requirements, including risk assessment of physical hazard, electrical safety, chemical safety, and biocompatibility. SGS can provide risk assessment service and related tests for meeting the requirements of ISO 3533:2021. 
 
Table 1. Requirements in ISO 3533:2021
REQUIREMENTSCONSIDERATIONS
Risk assessment
  • Potential and foreseeable hazards due to physical, electrical, and chemical
Design requirement
  • Enclosure type products must be easily removeable
  • Moving part should have a locking mechanism
  • Surface temperature no higher than 41oC
  • Smooth and free from burrs and sharp… etc.
Electrical safety
  • General electrical safety
  • Third party laboratory risk assessment for electrical stimulation products (IEC 60601 series)
Chemical safety
  • All applicable laws and regulations of the importing countries, e.g., RoHS, REACH, POPs, etc.
  • Restricted substance list
  • Biocompatibility
User information
  • Product marking
  • Information (e.g. instruction, warning, etc.) on packaging and manual

SGS Performance Mark:

ISO 3533:2021 can be applied upon fulfilling the requirement of the standard. It allows enterprises to demonstrate their products have met the requirement. The Mark can be applied on the product packaging and used in advertisement, allowing the product to stand out from others in the market. 

Please contact our Customer Service Team for more information!

To obtain a copy in PDF, please click here.

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