CONSUMER SAFETY ALERT: Food-Like Plastic Toys May Pose Serious Health Risks to Children
Chemicals and waste watchdog BAN Toxics has raised concerns over the sale of food-like plastic toys suspected to contain health-damaging substances. As part of its safe toys for kids’ advocacy, the group purchased the said toys for testing at P50 from ambulant vendors in Divisoria, Manila.
Using a Vanta C Series Handheld XRF Chemical Analyzer, the group tested five toys and found varying levels of arsenic, antimony, barium, bromine, lead, and mercury. All the samples were suspected to contain PVC or polyvinyl chloride – a chemical additive used in toys as a softener, stabilizer, and colorant and for improved elasticity and durability.
PVC and its plasticizers pose serious health risks, including cancer (especially liver, testicular, and brain cancers), endocrine disruption, reproductive and immune system damage, and harm to child development.
The food-like plastic toys resemble common foods such as burgers, sunny-side up eggs, fruits, candies, and chocolates. These toys are intended for children, especially toddlers. Although they were designed as children’s learning development tools, toys made from such plastic materials may contain undisclosed chemical additives that put children at risk of toxic exposure.
“Food-like plastic toys pose significant dangers to children and should be regulated. It is important that a consumer alert be issued by the Food and Drug Administration,” stressed Thony Dizon, Advocacy and Campaign Officer of BAN Toxics. “These toys may look like food products and can dangerously confuse children into handling non-edible items, which can lead to toxic chemical exposure.”
“Many plastic food-replica toys are small enough to be swallowed or can break into small pieces that present choking risks. The realistic appearance of these toys entices children to put them in their mouths or attempt to eat them, believing them to be real food. Children, particularly those under three years old, are especially vulnerable to this confusion,” he added.
The increasingly realistic appearance of these toys makes it difficult for young children to distinguish between safe, edible items and potentially harmful plastic replicas. This confusion can lead to accidental ingestion of non-food items.
According to the Endocrine Society, endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) are chemicals that mimic, block, or interfere with hormones in the body’s endocrine system. EDCs have been associated with a diverse array of health issues.
The Department of Health Administrative Order No. 2009-005-A (DAO No. 2009-005-A) states that “it shall be unlawful for any person to manufacture for sale, offer for sale, distribute in commerce, or import into the country any children’s toy that contains concentrations of more than 0.1 percent of di-(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP), dibutyl phthalate (DBP), or benzyl butyl phthalate (BBP).”
BAN Toxics further urges local government units and the Food and Drug Administration to conduct post-marketing surveillance and issue a public health advisory against food-like plastic toys to prevent toxic exposure among children.
The group will continue its monitoring efforts to ensure that children’s products such as toys are safe and toxics-free, especially with the ‘ber’ months now underway towards the holiday season. #
