As a parent, keeping your baby safe is priority number one. And when your little one starts gnawing on everything in sight — including books — it’s natural to wonder: are board books toxic?
Here’s the short answer:
Board books made by reputable manufacturers using soy-based inks and water-based lamination are safe. Full stop.
How do I know? I’ve been manufacturing board books at GoBook Printing for over 10 years. Every single batch we ship goes through third-party lab testing. I’ve personally reviewed hundreds of CPSIA and EN 71 test reports.
In this guide, I’ll walk you through exactly what board books are made of, what safety standards apply, and how to pick non-toxic options for your family.
Let’s dive in.
What Are Board Books Made Of?
Board books aren’t some mysterious product. They’re made from a handful of standard materials that I work with every day in our factory.
Here’s the breakdown:
Paperboard (the pages). Most quality board books use 350gsm C1S greyboard laminated with 128gsm or 157gsm C2S coated art paper. The greyboard core is made from recycled wood pulp. It’s the same type of material used in food packaging.
Soy-based or water-based inks. This is what puts the colorful images on each page. Modern board book printers — including us — overwhelmingly use soy-based inks instead of petroleum-based inks. Soy inks contain significantly lower levels of volatile organic compounds (VOCs).
Lamination film. Each page gets a thin BOPP (biaxially oriented polypropylene) or PET film to make it durable, water-resistant, and easy to wipe clean. This is applied using either water-based adhesive or a heat-activated pre-coated film — no solvent required.
Binding adhesive. A strong PUR (polyurethane reactive) or EVA (ethylene-vinyl acetate) hot-melt adhesive holds the book together. These adhesives are specifically formulated to be non-toxic once cured — which is important since babies love pulling at book spines.
Now you know what goes into a board book. Let’s look at the safety concerns parents raise most often.
Are the Materials in Board Books Toxic?
Let me address the three biggest concerns I hear from parents and self-publishing clients.
Concern #1: Heavy Metals in Inks
This is the most common worry. And it used to be a legitimate one.
Decades ago, some printing inks contained lead, cadmium, and other heavy metals as pigments. But the industry moved away from those formulations a long time ago.
Today, the inks used in children’s board books must comply with strict heavy metal limits. Under ASTM F963-23 (the U.S. toy safety standard), the soluble migration limits for heavy metals in surface coatings are:
- Lead (Pb): 90 ppm
- Cadmium (Cd): 75 ppm
- Mercury (Hg): 60 ppm
- Chromium VI (Cr6+): 60 ppm
Our ink suppliers provide Safety Data Sheets (SDS) for every batch, and we confirm compliance through third-party testing. In over 10 years of production, we’ve never had a batch exceed these limits.
Concern #2: BPA in Lamination
Some parents worry about BPA (bisphenol-A) in the lamination coating. This concern is understandable — BPA is a real issue in certain plastic products.
But here’s the thing:
BPA is primarily found in polycarbonate plastics and epoxy resin can linings. Board book lamination uses BOPP or PET film. These are entirely different materials. BOPP and PET films do not contain BPA.
I’ve reviewed dozens of our lamination supplier certifications. They consistently test negative for BPA, phthalates, and other endocrine disruptors.
Concern #3: VOC Off-Gassing
Can a baby inhale harmful chemicals by chewing on a laminated board book?
In theory, laminated products can release trace VOCs. But in practice, the levels from a board book are negligible.
Water-based lamination adhesives and pre-coated BOPP films have virtually eliminated solvent residue from the finished product. By the time a board book completes production, curing, and shipping, any measurable VOC content has long since dissipated.
Bottom line: a properly manufactured board book is one of the safest objects your baby can put in their mouth — certainly safer than random household items, plastic toys of unknown origin, or painted furniture.
What Safety Standards Apply to Board Books?
This is where I need to correct a common misconception.
Board book safety testing in the United States is NOT voluntary. It is mandatory.
Under the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA), any product designed or intended primarily for children 12 and under is classified as a “children’s product.” Board books clearly fall into this category.
Here’s what CPSIA requires:
Total lead content must not exceed 100 ppm in any accessible component. This applies to the paperboard, inks, and lamination.
Lead in surface coatings must not exceed 90 ppm under 16 CFR 1303.
Phthalates: Eight specific phthalates (DEHP, DBP, BBP, DINP, DIBP, DPENP, DHEXP, and DCHP) are permanently banned in children’s products at levels above 0.1% under Section 108 of CPSIA.
Third-party testing is required. Manufacturers must have their products tested by a CPSC-accepted laboratory and issue a Children’s Product Certificate (CPC) before the product can be sold in the U.S.
If you’re selling board books in the European Union, EN 71 (the European toy safety standard) applies. EN 71-3 specifically covers migration limits for 19 elements. In many cases, EN 71 is even stricter than CPSIA.
I’ll share a real example.
Last year, a self-publishing client from Portland asked us to produce a custom board book for her toddler brand. She wanted documentation that the book was safe for mouthing. We sent her our most recent SGS test report covering lead, cadmium, phthalates, and 8 additional heavy metals — all results came back well below CPSIA and EN 71 limits.
That’s the level of transparency you should expect from any board book manufacturer.
How to Choose Non-Toxic Board Books
Now let’s get practical. Here are my recommendations — based on what I’ve seen across hundreds of board book projects — for choosing the safest books for your child.
Ask for the test report. Any manufacturer or publisher worth buying from can provide a third-party test report (from labs like SGS, Bureau Veritas, or Intertek) showing CPSIA or EN 71 compliance. If they can’t produce one, that’s a red flag.
Look for the right certifications. The certifications that actually matter for board books are:
- CPSIA / CPC — mandatory for the U.S. market, confirms lead and phthalate compliance
- EN 71 — the European toy safety standard, covers a broader range of chemicals
- FSC or PEFC — certifies the paper comes from responsibly managed forests (not a toxicity standard, but a quality signal)
(Side note: you’ll sometimes see OEKO-TEX or GREENGUARD mentioned in board book contexts. OEKO-TEX is a textile certification and GREENGUARD is an indoor air quality standard — neither is specifically designed for printed children’s books.)
Choose soy-based or water-based inks. Most reputable board book printers use these by default in 2026. But it doesn’t hurt to confirm.
Check for a matte or gloss lamination. Both BOPP gloss and matte lamination films are safe. The key is that the lamination should be applied via water-based adhesive or thermal pre-coating — not solvent-based. Again, this is standard practice at any modern printer.
Inspect secondhand books carefully. Older board books (especially pre-2009, before CPSIA was fully enforced) may not meet current safety standards. If pages are peeling, cracking, or the lamination is lifting, discard the book. Exposed ink and degraded adhesive from decades-old production methods could be a concern.
Don’t use board books as teethers. This is common sense, but worth repeating. Board books are built to survive handling and the occasional gnaw. But they’re not designed for sustained chewing. Provide your baby with a proper BPA-free teething ring instead.
A Note on “Chemical-Free” Marketing
One more thing.
Be cautious of board books marketed as “chemical-free” or “100% non-toxic.” Everything is made of chemicals. Water is a chemical. Cellulose (the main component of paper) is a chemical.
What you actually want is a board book that meets recognized safety standards — CPSIA and/or EN 71 — with test reports to prove it.
Marketing buzzwords aren’t safety certifications. Lab reports are.
The Bottom Line
Board books from responsible manufacturers are safe for your baby. That’s not a guess — it’s backed by mandatory third-party testing, federal safety regulations, and the material science of modern printing.
Here’s a quick recap:
- Modern board books use soy-based inks, BOPP lamination, and non-toxic adhesives
- CPSIA compliance is mandatory, not voluntary — including third-party lab testing
- Heavy metals, phthalates, and BPA are tightly regulated or absent entirely in standard board book materials
- Always ask for a test report if you’re unsure about a specific product
As someone who has manufactured millions of board books over the past decade, I’m confident telling you: give your baby the book. The developmental benefits of early reading far outweigh any theoretical material risk from a properly tested board book.
Have questions about board book safety or want to see a sample test report? Get in touch with our team — we’re happy to walk you through the details.
English 
German 
French