Second-hand Toys Contain 'surprising' Levels Of Toxic Chemicals

Children often play with second-hand toys at nurseries and in waiting rooms

ISLAMABAD,(UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 02nd Feb, 2018 ) :Children often play with second-hand toys at nurseries and in waiting rooms. As long as the toys are clean, people tend to consider them safe, but new research might make you think twice.

Dr. Andrew Turner and colleagues, from the University of Plymouth in the United Kingdom, recently studied hundreds of children's toys to assess what chemicals they might be harboring. The results are sobering.

Buying toys from thrift stores or passing them down from older siblings or friends is common. But there may be more risk attached than previously thought. Over the years, research has shown that metals and metalloids, which are metal-like elements, can negatively impact health, even at fairly low doses.

They are dangerous for all age groups, but particularly so for children because their metabolism is running at a higher rate and they are growing quickly, Health news reported.

Also, because children often put toys in their mouths, the risk is increased further.

To ensure that new toys are safe, guidelines for their manufacture have slowly evolved to keep up. However, although there are laws that keep new toys aligned with safety codes, old toys are not covered by the same statutes.

So, as laws change, older toys still in circulation at yard sales, doctors' waiting rooms, or a relative's toy cupboard slip under the radar. Today, people are wary of older toys if, for instance, they have paint flaking off of them, but plastic toys are much more durable and generally considered safe.

In some cases, it is difficult to tell how old they are. Very little research has gone into testing second-hand toys for toxic compounds, and the studies that do exist are limited. Earlier experiments did not test how much of the harmful compounds might come from the plastic when the toy is chewed or ingested.