Your Chinese Made Children’s Toys May Be Causing Cancer
A Flood Of Toys From China Have Damaging Levels Of Chemicals
Phthalates are carcinogenic chemical compounds used in production to make plastics malleable and durable. Because these compounds are not bonded to the plastics themselves, they can be ingested and absorbed into Humans.
They are primarily used in the production of plastics like PVC, they were banned for use in Children’s toys in the US and the EU. However, that has not stopped the use, production and supply of products containing them arriving from China.
A study of products containing Phthalates in school products was conducted by The Danish Environmental Protection Agency finding the use of six banned substances in school supplies (1).
More recently an independent test of a Children’s Play First Aid Kit, marketed for the European market contained 130 times the allowable limit of phthalates (2). Ironic. But the same study showed that 25% of the children’s toys tested contained dangerous levels of phthalates.
What about CE marking?
You would immediately suggest that my children’s play toy is safe because it contains the “CE” marking:
However, it may come as a surprise that this can be applied to items by the manufacturers themselves. It’s not necessarily an indication of quality, and you should be undertaking a certain degree of due diligence to ensure that you are not putting you or your family in a situation where you are introducing chemicals into your house and into, fundamentally, their mouths.
So, what can be done to stop this?
It’s very hard. Manufacturers can and do apply the ‘CE’ mark themselves (self certify), and because unscrupulous manufacturers who care not to use carcinogenic materials in their products, wouldn’t care if they applied the CE marks incorrectly. However, because of the European legislation, there may be some points that you can check.
When a CE mark is used correctly, the European rulings state that the importer of goods has to indicate their name, registered trademark or name and the address at which they can be contacted. They have to keep a copy of the EU declaration of conformity for at least 10 years after the product has been placed onto the market and ensure that the technical documentation can be made available to the relevant national authority upon request (3).
Take away:
Like it or not, if we want malleable plastics, be it for child playthings, or indeed a whole host of packaging then you can’t be sure that there are no phthalates contained within. The world of plastics is murky and doesn’t have the greatest track record of environmental care. If you are buying a new chew toy or something that will be chewed by your child or indeed anyone or thing. Then try as hard as you can to do some research on the plastic and if indeed it can contain chemicals harmful to health.
Sign up to my Engineering Newsletter Here.
Sources:
- “Phthalates in school supplies”, produced in 2008 by the SCHER (Scientific Committee on Health and Environmental Risks) of the European Commission.
- https://www.qima.com/phthalate-toys-laboratory-testing
- http://ec.europa.eu/DocsRoom/documents/18027/attachments/1/translations
