EcoWaste warns public: Children’s toys contain potentially harmful chemicals
Photo courtesy of EcoWaste Coalition
MANILA, Philippines — Parents and consumers should be wary of hazardous outdoor toys that contain lead and cadmium – these are popular playthings used in classic “Larong Pinoy” games, according to EcoWaste.
The group said it purchased and screened Filipino toys such as turumpo or wooden spinning toys; sipa or kick toys with shredded plastic skirts and lead washer bases; and holen or glass marbles at a mall in Binondo, Manila, last March 19.
An EcoWaste team analyzed the products for potentially harmful metals with an X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) device.
According to the group, cadmium and lead are on the WHO’s “10 chemicals of considerable public health concern” and the Philippine Priority Chemicals List.
Lead “is a cumulative toxicant that affects multiple body systems, including the neurologic, hematologic, gastrointestinal, cardiovascular, and renal systems,” while “cadmium exerts toxic effects on the kidney, the skeletal system and the respiratory system and is classified as a human carcinogen,” the WHO said.
“We’re happy to find the eight brightly painted turumpo compliant with our country’s lead paint regulation, which bans using lead-containing paints in children’s toys. This is good news for our children, especially if we look at past screening results,” EcoWaste National Coordinator Aileen Lucero said in a statement issued Tuesday.
“While lead was not detected on the plastic skirts of the 20 sipa samples, the lead washers had, unsurprisingly, over 10 percent or 100,000 ppm (parts per million) of lead, which will make them illegal to sell in the US,” she added.
Lucero also noted that the US prohibits more than 100 ppm lead content in children’s products.
Meanwhile, sample holens contain cadmium or lead – the highest levels detected were 447 ppm for cadmium on a blue marble and 568 ppm for lead on a black marble.
She said all the toys that were checked had no labels, which was illegal under Republic Act 10620, often known as the Toy and Game Safety Labeling Act of 2013.
According to RA 10620, “balloon, ball, marble, or toy or game whose packaging is not in compliance with the requirements of this Act shall be considered a misbranded or banned hazardous substance (and) shall be withdrawn from the market at the expense of the manufacturer or importer.”
Because school vacation is approaching and many young children will play outside, the group reiterated its plea for toy makers, regulators, and dealers to sell only compliant, child-friendly, non-hazardous, and accurately labeled toys.
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