Many of the older toys contained toxins. Source: University of Gothenburg
Allowing children to play with used plastic toys could pose a health risk. When researchers at the University of Gothenburg tested a large number of old plastic toys and dress-up items, they found that 84% of the items contained toxins that can disrupt children’s growth, development and reproductive capacity. These toxins are a barrier to future circular economy with reuse and recycling, the researchers explain.
The current use and disposal behavior is wasteful with resources and consumes the finite resources of the earth. In 2021, the European Parliament passed a circular economy action plan. It encourages the reuse, repair and recycling of products and materials. But the question is, are all products well reusable?
Researchers from the University of Gothenburg recently published an article in the Journal of Hazardous Materials Advances showing that old toys and fancy dress items can contain toxic chemicals that can cause cancer, damage DNA or affect children’s future reproductive capacity.
Toxic chemicals in most old toys
Among the dangerous chemicals discovered were phthalates and short-chain chlorinated paraffins, used as plasticizers and flame retardants in toys.
Professor Bethanie Carney Almroth at the University of Gothenburg researches the environmental impact of plastics and plastic-related chemicals and led the research study, which was carried out at the interdisciplinary Center for Future Chemical Risk Assessment and Management Strategies (FRAM). For the study, the researchers selected 157 different toys, new and old, and measured their chemical content.
The study showed that most older toys and objects (84%) contained levels of chemicals that exceeded applicable legal limits. A total of 30% of newer toys and objects also exceeded the legal limits. By far, however, the older toys were significantly inferior.
“In the older articles, the pollutant concentrations were significantly higher. For example, many of the old balls were found to have phthalate concentrations in excess of 40 percent of the toy weight, which is 400 times the legal limit,” says expert Bethanie Carney Almroth.
Toxins an obstacle to a circular economy
EU legislation on the chemical content of toys, known as the Toy Safety Directive, regulates the allowable levels of a range of chemical substances in toys to protect the health and safety of children. Currently, the permitted limit values for new toys under the Toy Safety Directive are 0.1% by weight for phthalates and 0.15% by weight for short-chain chlorinated paraffins.
“The study shows that reuse and recycling are not always automatically a good thing. The transition to a more circular economy requires bans and other policies that remove hazardous chemicals from plastic and other materials. In order to reduce the presence of hazardous chemicals in toys, it was only applicable to new toys, not old ones,” explains Daniel Slunge, environmental economist at the University of Gothenburg.
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More information:
Bethanie Carney Almroth et al., The circular economy could expose children to hazardous phthalates and chlorinated paraffins through old toys and baby items, Journal of Hazardous Materials Advances (2022). DOI: 10.1016/j.hazadv.2022.100107 Provided by the University of Gothenburg
Citation: Toxins in old Toys an Obstacle for Circular Economy (2022, September 2), retrieved September 2, 2022 from https://phys.org/news/2022-09-toxins-toys-obstacle-circular-economy.html
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