Difficult to imagine a birthday party, a Christmas, or a family reunion with kids without having toys around. Toys are an important business, with the toy market being only half of that of cars, reaching more than USD$100 billion, with an annual growth of 2.5%.1 However, contrary to cars, 90% of all toys are made of plastics, and have a life time from a few days to a few years.2 Plastic toys are trashed and become the sadly famous microplastics that pollute oceans and our environment. Even a single piece of LEGO brick can take from 100 to 1300 years to completely degrade.3 But not only plastics are harmful to the environment, they also put our kids at risk as most contain harmful chemicals.
Picture of a poster found in the bus.
Earlier this year, collaborative work from the Technical University of Denmark, the University of Michigan, and the Economy Division from the UN Environment Program listed the chemicals of concern present in toys.4 Reviewing the published literature on chemical compounds in toys, they found 126 chemicals of concerns among which 31 are plasticizers, 18 are flame retardants, and 8 are fragrances. More importantly, they determined that at least 17 of these chemicals have high risk to induce cancer and are not prohibited in regulations, while 37 of these chemicals have unknown risks. This is alarming since they estimate a consumption of 18.3 kg of plastic toys per child per year in Western countries. Also, the authors only focused on the regulations in Europe and Northern America, which have the most stringent regulations regarding this topic. Currently, China is exporting 30% of all toys, with India taking over soon and working on implementing toy safety regulations.5
How do chemicals pass from toy to kids? The exposure route can be multiple: inhalation, ingestion, object to mouth and touch. However, so far it is not possible to evaluate the exposure risk from the actual toy level - the evaluated risk was established from the plastic level.
Are there toys likely to be more toxic than others? The concentration of plasticizers, among which are phtalates, can reach up to 70 % of the toys mass! These plasticizers are used in soft toys to give them flexibility.
Luckily, alternatives to plastic toys are emerging. First, recycled plastics and second-hand toys, although still containing the chemicals, reduce the environmental pollution. Secondly, bioplastics, such as derived from biomass, are biodegradable in water too. Toy manufacturer giant LEGO is now using it in its famous bricks.6 Thirdly, wood, rattan, hemp fibers, and other natural materials can also be used to produce toxic-free, eco-friendly toys.
Although these alternatives exist, their high cost and slow production rates are struggling to compete with injection molding of thermoplastics. LEGO can produced 2.16 million pieces per hour, or 36,000 per minute. Reaching such an output with wood is unlikely. Plastic toys also come in various shapes and colors, can be combined with electronic systems, are tough, lightweight, resistant to water and spillage, etc.
Materials science, including chemistry and processing will be key to address the toxicity of plastic toys for kids and the environment. For example, DNA extracted from biomass such as algae and bacteria can be colored and shaped in plastic-like pieces, for consumer goods including toys.7
Biomass DNA puzzle toy, from ref [7] (credit American Chemical Society).
References:
1. https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/toys-market-A08309
3. A. Turner, R. Arnold, T. Williams, Weathering and persistence of plastic in the marine environment: Lessons from LEGO, Environmental Pollution 262 (2020) 114299.
4. N. Aurisano, L. Huang, L. Mila i Canals, O. Jolliet, P. Fantke, Chemicals of concern in plastic toys, Environment International 146 (2021).
5. https://www.indiafilings.com/learn/toys-quality-control-order-2020/
6. https://www.lego.com/en-sg/sustainability/environment/sustainable-materials
7. D. Wang, J. Cui, M. Gan, Z. Xue, J. Wang, P. Liu, Y. Hu, Y. Pardo, S. Hamada, D. Yang, D. Luo, Transformation of biomass DNA into biodegradable materials from gels to plastics for reducing petrochemical consumption, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 142 (2020).
Most of the companies are working on safe toys.
Posted by: HS Molds | 04/16/2022 at 01:40 PM