What a mouthed rubber toy can release depends on how the rubber was processed.1 Some chemicals used to process rubber can form nitrosamines; several of these substances can damage genetic material and cause cancer.1 YAN's view: Choose natural rubber with disclosed processing, prevention of avoidable residues and relevant finished-toy test results. That preference is YAN's own choice, not a comparison of nitrosamine release.
What you need to know
- The concern comes from processing chemistry, in both natural and synthetic rubber. The finished toy needs its own evidence.1
- Great Britain’s designated toy test standard sets stricter release limits for mouthed rubber toys for young children than the legislation does. A bare legal pass leaves that distinction unanswered.2,3
- Ask which standard, edition and toy category were used, what both substance groups released, and how low the test could measure.
- Ask for evidence before composting any toy.
Why does processing matter?
Natural rubber comes from plant latex.12 What happens during processing is a separate question from where the base rubber came from.
Germany’s Federal Institute for Risk Assessment, known as BfR, describes how certain accelerators—chemicals that help process rubber—can be converted into nitrosamines and nitrosatable amines during processing.1 Nitrosatable substances are chemicals that can be turned into nitrosamines; a report on tattoos and permanent make-up by the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre reproduces the EN 71-12 toy-test method, which converts nitrosatable substances into nitrosamines by adding acid to the test liquid.13 Its concern covers natural and synthetic rubber toys put in young children’s mouths.1
BfR also says suitable accelerators can largely avoid nitrosamine formation.1 Our position: Avoid unnecessary processing residues and choose disclosed natural materials with relevant finished-product evidence.
A hazard is not a measured illness from a toy. BfR’s current toy guidance explains that the amount released and how much the body absorbs matter when assessing health risk.4 The useful question is what the actual toy releases and what the maker has done to prevent avoidable formation.
What have tests found?
A study published in 2018 tested 30 baby-bottle teats and 45 rubber kitchen tools in Korea using artificial saliva. For the teats, nitrosamine results ranged from not detected to 3.67 micrograms per kilogram of material. The authors reported that all the tested products met the management specifications they used.5
That is evidence that measurable release and meeting a specification can coexist. The product and method matter. Test laboratory SGS explains that the teat-and-soother method, EN 12868, and the toy method, EN 71-12, use different extraction and analytical procedures.6 A teat result should not stand in for a toy result.
What do the rules say?
In Great Britain, the toy regulations prohibit nitrosamine migration—release from the material—at or above 0.05 mg/kg of material, and nitrosatable-substance migration at or above 1 mg/kg, in toys intended for children under 36 months or other toys intended to go in the mouth.7 Great Britain’s rules set a separate release limit for each group.7
Those legal values are not the whole testing picture. The government’s February 2026 notice lists EN 71-12:2016 as a designated toy standard. Its table explicitly shows lower values for the standard: 0.01 mg/kg for nitrosamines and 0.1 mg/kg for nitrosatable substances.2 SGS’s technical explanation identifies the stricter category as elastomer toys—rubber-like materials—intended for children under 36 months and intended or likely to be put in the mouth. It lists maximum values of 0.01 and 0.1 mg/kg respectively.3 The designated test standard is stricter than the legal limit for that category. Asking only whether a toy meets the legislation misses this distinction.
The standards body NEN confirms that EN 71-12 covers these substance groups in specified elastomer toys and parts.8 A designated standard helps a maker show compliance with the corresponding legal requirements. Government guidance says that this presumption can be challenged and that standards do not replace the law. The maker remains responsible.9
The lower-limit concern has a history. In its rubber-toy opinion, BfR compared a lower German nitrosamine limit with the higher EU value then planned and urged retaining the lower level of protection. It pointed to preventing formation through suitable accelerators.1 That historical comparison is separate from today’s Great Britain rules.
This investigation continues below.
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Does a conformity mark answer the question?
Great Britain’s guidance requires toy manufacturers to assess safety, keep technical information and identify their products. Where the rules allow it, manufacturers can use self-declaration for UKCA or CE marking.10 Ask whether the results identify the same toy, material and version being sold. Request both substance groups, the applicable limits and the test’s detection limits—the smallest amounts it can detect. A “not detected” result should be read alongside that limit. This is a buying specification, rather than a claim that buyers have a right to the maker’s whole confidential file.
What remains unknown?
A result for the same toy on sale, covering both substance groups and backed by the maker's description of how formation is prevented, would narrow the concern for that toy. It would not show zero release, and repeated mouthing over years and the toy's end of life would still need their own evidence. Reliable comparisons between materials could also change our materials assessment.
What should you choose?
Our advice: choose a natural-rubber toy with matching finished-toy results and disclosed prevention of formation, and skip plastic or synthetic-rubber teethers. Seek separate evidence for safe return to earth. Before composting, seek instructions and evidence for the finished toy, including its colours and non-rubber parts. For mixed materials, seek parts that can be separated and a clear route for each. For teething comfort, the NHS suggests gently rubbing a baby’s gums with a clean finger. A teething ring may also help; follow its chilling instructions, never freeze it and never tie it around a baby’s neck.11 This offers a way to help without buying another toy. It is not advice to change a baby’s feeding equipment.