EVA mats containing formamide will eventually be replaced by EPE mats
Formamide has reproductive toxicity and irreversible harm to children
According to Ye Ping, a senior engineer of the National Fine Chemical Quality Inspection Center, formamide is also called amino formaldehyde.
It is currently listed as a substance of high concern by EU REACH regulations and classified as a substance with reproductive toxicity by the European Chemicals Agency. Currently in Taiwan, the content of formamide in spliced plastic mats is limited to less than 2 mg/kg, and in France, the content of formamide is less than 200 mg/kg.
Formamide volatilization is a slow and long-term process. Children usually use floor mats in a relatively closed environment and play for a long time. Therefore, the formamide slowly released from children’s floor mats will be continuously passed through the respiratory tract and skin by childre, inhale into the body.
EVA material is not as safe as PE foam material, and formamide is up to 930 times higher than the standard
The test found that the safety performance of PE mats is much better than EVA mats. According to Ye Ping, a senior engineer of the National Fine Chemical Quality Inspection Center, among the 120 batches of floor mats, 67 batches of floor mats were made of PE material, and no formamide was detected; 53 batches were of EVA material, among them there are 46 batches which is 2mg/kg exceeded standard, accounting for 86.8%. The highest detection rate reached 1860 mg/kg, which exceeded the relevant Chinese standards by 930 times.
