Tests discover heavy metals polluting toys
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Toying around Two-year-old Chen Tianhao chooses his favorite toys on Monday at Beijing's Tianyi Wholesale Market. Nearly one in 10 toys in China failed to pass quality inspection tests conducted recently. [Photo by Wang Jing / China Daily] |
According to a recent spot-check by the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine, heavy metal elements were found in some toy products, which experts say can accumulate in children's bodies and cause chronic poisoning if they are absorbed.
The watch dog said, nearly one toy in 10 failed to pass the inspection.
On May 27, the administration published the results of the tests on its website, saying 20 of the 242 toys it picked at random at markets in Hebei, Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Fujian, Shandong, Hubei and Guangdong did not meet national mandatory quality requirements.
Among the substandard toys, 12 were found to have sharp edges that could hurt a child, two contained heavy metals such as lead and chromium, and others had dangerous protuberances.
Heavy metals contained in toys can cause chronic poisoning if they accumulate in the human body, according to Hu Xiaohong, a pediatrician at the No 304 Hospital in Beijing.
The inspection also sampled children's shoes and bicycles made in China, of which 17.5 percent of the sampled shoes and 20 percent of the bicycles were detected as having safety problems, such as containing excessive formaldehyde and having poor durability.
Experts suggest parents carefully choose children's gifts for the coming International Children's Day, which falls on June 1 to avoid unsafe products.
And heavy metals may not be the only harmful substance contained in toys.
Earlier this month, the environmental organization Greenpeace released the results of research it carried out on toys sampled in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Hong Kong. Some 70 percent were found to contain phthalates.
Phthalates were once widely used in plastics to increase their flexibility, transparency and durability, but use of the substance was phased out in the United States, Canada and the European Union because of health concerns.
The government is urged to tighten qualification regulations on children's products to ensure consumers' safety, including more frequent tests of heavy metals and phthalates on toy products.
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