Chemicals of Concern
Introduction
Toys can contain a variety of chemicals of concern. The materials used
in toys like plastics, paints, and fabrics are made up of chemicals, and
may also contain added chemicals to impart specific properties such as
rigidity, durability, flexibility or flame resistance.
When children put these products into their mouths, some of these chemicals
may enter their bodies. Some of the substances, which are not always
chemically bound to the products, may also be released directly onto skin,
or into the air that children breathe. There may also be exposure through
chemicals that collect in house dust. However, the detection of
a chemical in a product does not necessarily mean there is direct exposure.
Because children's bodies are growing and developing, they are more vulnerable
to the effects of toxic chemicals. Even small amounts of a chemical can
impact a child's ability to reach his or her full potential. Children
are exposed to toxic chemicals from many sources in addition to toys,
and the combination of these many exposures may cause harm.
While there are a number of chemicals of concern that have been found
in children's products, HealthyToys.org focused on a subset of chemicals
that could be detected by the XRF technology: lead,
cadmium, chlorine,
arsenic, bromine and mercury.
HealthyToys.org also contains information on children's products that
contain chromium, tin, and antimony.
HealthyToys.org selected these elements and related or associated chemical
compounds because they have been identified by many regulatory agencies
as problematic chemicals or they are associated with problematic compounds
and because of their toxicity or suspected toxicity, persistence, and/or
their tendency to build up in people and the environment. These chemicals
have also been linked in animal and sometimes human studies to long-term
health impacts such as birth defects, impaired learning, liver toxicity,
and cancer. They were also chosen because these chemicals, or their elemental
building blocks, have been subject to either regulatory restrictions or
voluntary limits set by industry associations or third party environmental
certification organizations. On February 10, 2009 the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act will adopt the ASTM F973-07 levels for antimony, arsenic, cadmium, mercury, lead, chromium(view ASTM standard) as a mandatory standard.Each of these chemicals also represents potential
exposure to workers during the manufacture of products containing them.
The rapid screening technology used for HealthyToys.org cannot
identify the presence and concentration of every chemical
of concern.
HealthyToys.org ratings do not provide a measure of health risk or chemical
exposure associated with any individual toy or children's product, or
any individual element or related chemical. HealthyToys.org ratings only
provide a relative measure of high, medium, and low concentrations of
several hazardous chemicals or chemical elements in a toy or children's
product in comparison to criteria established in the methodology.
