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Materials World: February 2000 Issue

February 02, 2000

Teddy bears are being "tortured" in order to meet the stringent demands of European Commission (EC) directives. Teddy bear body parts, such as glass eyes and plastic noses, are being pulled and twisted by mechanical multi-jawed grips to see how well they will cope in the rigorous world of the nursery playroom.

"Once children have opened their Christmas presents it is amazing what their fingers, and indeed teeth, will try to do to their new toys," says Chris Grant from 'teddy torturing' company Mecmesin Ltd. in Horsham, West Sussex (UK). To the horror of arctophiles everywhere, bears are strapped into a testing rig and have their body parts mechanically pulled from them at forces of up to 90 Newtons (about 20lbs of force) over a 5 second period. Machines are also used to twist and turn the body parts to make sure that the cuddly toys can withstand even the most ferocious temper tantrum.

Other tests included in the UK's Toy (Safety) Regulations Act cover the mechanical and physical properties of the toys as well as the flammability and the likely migration of toxic substances. Despite frequently being labelled as a teddy torturer, Grant has few reservations about the validity of the role that he and his company has to play, "Few would argue with the fact that in order to safeguard children, cuddly toys must continue to 'suffer'."
"Looking for the bear necessities", Materials World, p.8.

Also in this issue:

Sizing up the possibilities of nanoparticles and composites
Steven Armes from the University of Sussex describes the importance of particle sizing for his research into the production of nanoparticles and nanocomposites, which could be used for everything from scratch resistant coatings to military camouflage and diagnostic kits. p. 18

Peak performance in stressed carbon composites
Raman spectroscopy is being used to probe carbon's role in extremely strong composites, says Carole Cooper from the Manchester Materials Science Research Centre at UMIST (UK). p. 20

Tape casting - a flexible approach to surface engineering
Jeffrey Alcock from Cranfield University, UK, describes new functionally gradient materials for coating twin-screw extruder barrels to optimise wear resistance. p. 13

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