Green group collects, screens donated toys

MANILA, Philippines - Environmental network EcoWaste Coalition yesterday set up a “toy clinic” at the Quezon Memorial Circle (QMC) to collect toy donations for child survivors of Super Typhoon Yolanda and screen these for health-damaging toxic metals.

EcoWaste, in partnership with the Philippine Pediatric Society, will help kids in affected areas cope with disaster trauma through the project.

Thony Dizon, coordinator of EcoWaste’s Project Protect, said they want the toys that will be sent to children in affected areas to be safe and for these to help the kids recover somehow.

During the event, the EcoWaste team screened toys bought by consumers from stalls at the QMC and analyzed these for lead and other toxic metals using a portable X-ray fluorescence spectrometer.

Resource persons led by pediatric toxicologist Dr. Bessie Antonio, head of the East Avenue Medical Center, were present to offer consumers practical ways to prevent children from being exposed to hazardous chemicals such as lead in toys.

EcoWaste also disclosed the results of its toy sampling for November, in which members analyzed assorted toys, ranging in price from P10 to P239.75, which were procured from several formal and informal retailers in Quezon City.

Out of 150 samples, 73 items (49 percent) were found to contain at least one toxic metal above levels of concern such as antimony, arsenic, cadmium, chromium, lead and mercury that were not indicated on the product labels.  

Out of these 73 toxic items, 54 were found to contain lead, a potent neurotoxin, about the US limit of 90 parts per million for lead in paint and surface coatings.