With the high influx of low-cost plastic toys on the market, there is growing concern about the safety of such toys. Some of these plastic toys contains hazardous chemicals like polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) due to the use of recycled plastics in new toy manufacturing. Here, RECETOX scientists and Premières Lignes Television - a reporting partner of the International Consortium of Investigative Journalism (ICIJ) investigated if toys marketed in Europe are compliant with EU directives to assess the safety of currently used children's toys and identify implications of PBDE content in toys.
“We found that some children’s toys have very high levels of flame retardants that should not be present in children’s products. Out of 84 toys that were pre-screened, we found that 8 toys had very high levels of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) – flame retardants that are now banned under the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants. The levels were extremely high in some toys, well above levels that could result from trace background contamination,” says Lisa Melymuk, a coauthor of study.
PBDEs are hazardous compounds - they are persistent in the environment, bioaccumulative and toxic – and should not be present in any children’s products. They were used as flame retardants, added to plastics to reduce flammability, for many decades but are no longer produced. Exposure to children has been associated with neurodevelopmental harm. PBDEs were up to percent levels in the toy plastics, suggesting direct recycling of flame-retarded plastic, e.g., e-waste plastics, into toy components.
“The RECETOX Trace Analytical Laboratories analyzed toys provided by a French investigative journalism team. They pre-screened 84 toys using x-ray fluorescence and sent us the 11 toys that had high levels of bromine for further chemical analysis. Of those 11 toys, 8 had very high levels of polybrominated diphenyl ethers, “describes Melymuk.
Europe is aiming to move towards a more circular economy, but this must be coupled with better information on the composition of recycled plastics. The study team attributed the sale of toys in the EU that do not comply with safety regulations to inadequate tracking of recycled plastics, the rise of online sales, complexities in global and national supply chains, and economic challenges. Failure to address these issues will hinder the efforts of the plastics industry to transition into a circular economy.
This work was co-funded by the Horizon Europe program under grant agreement No. 101057014 (PARC). Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Health and Digital Executive Agency (HADEA). Neither the European Union nor HADEA can be held responsible for any use that may be made of the information it contains. The authors thank the RECETOX Research Infrastructure (No LM2023069) financed by the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports for a supportive background.
This work has received support from the European Union's Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation program under grant agreemeents No. 857560 (Cetocoen Excellence) and No. 964827 (AURORA). This publication reflects only the authors' view, and the European Commission is not responsible for any use that may be made of the information it contains.
Published in Environmental Sciences Europe on 14 October 2024
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12302-024-00999-2
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