Various toys being sold without proper labels – EcoWaste Coalition

Some of the toys examined by the EcoWaste Coalition. (Photo from the group’s Facebook account)

MANILA, Philippines — EcoWaste Coalition found 44 toys that lacked proper labels in violation of the Toy and Game Safety Labeling Act, or Republic Act.No. 10620.

The toys being sold in the market had no labels telling parents how the toys should be used or their possible hazards to health and safety, the environmental advocacy group said in a statement issued on Tuesday.

As part of its monitoring last October, EcoWaste Coalition bought the toys, with prices ranging from P10 to P450 each, from retailers in Pasig, Makati, Taguig, and Pasay.

“We are disappointed to find more inadequately labeled toys in the retail market,” the group’s chemical safety campaign manager, Thony Dizon said. “Poor compliance to RA 10620 is depriving consumers with sufficient information to make informed toy product choices that will not jeopardize the health and safety of children.”

“Some of these poorly labeled toys may contain hazardous substances that can put children at risk for injury or illness,” he added.

EcoWaste listed the following violations of the toy manufacturers:

• 13 samples were completely unlabeled.
• 39 samples lacked the LTO number issued by the FDA.
• 28 samples provided no age grading information.
• 13 samples showed no cautionary statements such as “Warning: Not suitable for children under 3 years. Contains small parts” or its equivalent graphic symbol.
• 28 samples provided no or incomplete name and address of the toy manufacturer or distributor.
• 41 samples had no item, model, SKU number.
• 1 sample had its labeling information written in foreign characters.

Citing the implementing rules and regulation of the law, the group said the labels of toys and games should carry information about the company’s license to operate (LTO) number, age grading, cautionary statements/warnings, instructional literature, manufacturer’s marking, and item, model, stock-keeping unit (SKU) number.

Despite being enacted years ago, the law has not been implemented properly, Dizon said.

“Almost two years after its [implementing rules and regulations] were belatedly promulgated in January 2019, it seems that adequately labeled toys are quite an exception rather than the rule until now,” he said.

EcoWaste also warned that banned phthalates — chemicals added to plastic to make them soft and more pliable — might be present in some of the plastic toys bought.

The group noted that local and foreign health experts had already banned the high concentrations of certain phthalates in toys and childcare objects as these were believed to interfere with hormone functions and damage the kidneys, liver, lungs, and reproductive system.

For years now, EcoWaste has been testing toys and other consumer items for the presence of various toxic materials and the lack of proper labels.

In some cases, the group found certain toxic materials and minute particles like phthalates and bisphenol A or BPA.

The group promised to continue its pre-Christmas monthly toy monitoring to ensure that parents would be informed of the presence of hazardous materials so that they could protect their children.

—With a report from Miggy Dumlao

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