Lawmakers urged to pass safe toys bill

Manila, Philippines -  The EcoWaste Coalition, a group of environmentalists, urged lawmakers to immediately enact a safe toys bill after 54 (32 percent) of 171 assorted children’s products were detected on Thursday with toxic metals above levels of concern.

The group also reported that 68 percent of the samples had no detectable heavy metals or contained low levels of these chemicals, signifying the commercial and technical viability of producing cleaner and safer toys.

“The results of our investigation should induce Congress into swiftly enacting a law that will ban health-damaging chemicals in toys and other common children’s products. President Aquino and Congress need to act with dispatch to prevent toxic exposure from unregistered, unlabeled and unsafe toys,” said Thony Dizon, coordinator, EcoWaste Coalition’s Project Protect.

The product samples, mostly toys “made in China” with zero or incomplete product information, were bought on July 17-19, 2012 from stores and vendors in the immediate vicinity of public elementary schools in 17 local government units in Metro Manila.

Out of the 171 samples, lead, a brain poison chemical that causes low IQ, poor school performance and behavioral problems, was found in 50 samples up to 7,962 parts per million (ppm), way above the US regulatory limit of 90 ppm.

“A notorious neurotoxin with no safe level of exposure, lead can be transferred to children through exposure to contaminated products such as toys. Hand to mouth activities, which are typical among young children, could result to a higher intake of lead-containing paint chip and dust from contaminated toys as well as other sources such as lead-painted walls, ceilings, furniture and fixtures, and playground equipment,” warned pediatric toxicologist Dr. Bessie Antonio of the East Avenue Medical Center.

Among the five samples that registered the highest amounts of lead were a silver toy ring, 7,962 ppm; a “Loplop” strap ruler, 7,688 ppm; an “Emo” neck pouch wallet, 6,034 ppm; a “Totoy Bato” necklace, 4,395 ppm, and a “Crystal Slime” with ruler, 4,318 ppm.

Lead was also detected in the containers and packaging of five junk food products, all sold at P5 only, in the range of 93 ppm to 352 ppm.

Aside from lead, the group also reported finding other chemicals of concern such as antimony, arsenic, barium, cadmium, chromium and mercury in some of the toy samples. Barium, for instance, was detected in 15 samples, including a toy xylophone with 10,000 ppm and a mini “Choco dippin stick” food container with 12,400 ppm, way above the US soluble content limit of 1,000 ppm.

“The presence of multiple chemicals of concerns in some products even in trace levels raises some valid questions about the health effects of chemical mixtures, especially to children’s health,” Dizon said.