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About HealthyToys.org

Findings

HealthyToys.org 2008 tested 4,500 components in over 1,500 children's products. The test data represents the largest publicly available database of toxic chemicals in toys. Currently, the U.S. government and U.S. toy manufacturers are not providing this data to consumers. Our testing is not necessarily representative of all toys on the market. In addition, the presence of a chemical in a product does not necessarily mean there is exposure. Our sampling was conducted by the Ecology Center and other non-profit citizen advocacy and environmental health partner organizations. HealthyToys.org found:

Lead is still widespread in products:

  • Lead was found in a significant percentage of children's toys: Lead was detected in 20% (304) of the 1,528 products we tested. In 2007, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommended a level of 40 parts per million (ppm) of lead as the maximum that should be allowed in children's products. Fifty-four of the products (3.5%) tested at levels above 600 ppm. The current federal recall standard used for lead paint is 600 ppm. Seven products had lead concentration above 10,000 ppm (1% by weight). HealthyToys.org has sent a notice to the Consumer Product Safety Commission with this information.
  • Very high levels of lead were found in a number of products* Below are a few sample products with high levels of lead: Our testing detected 8,000-190,000 ppm in four sets of holiday jewelry; 4,113 ppm lead in children's sandals and 2,446 in Edushape Thistle Blocks. Results in detail:

    • Halloween Pumpkin Pin 190,943 ppm
    It's So Charming Jewelry 9,254 ppm
    Fairy and Flowers Children's Sandals 4,113 ppm
    Thistle Blocks 2,446 ppm

  • Many of the products with the highest level of lead detected can be viewed at Worst Toys.

It's not just China:

In the last two years, HealthyToys.org has tested over 2,800 toys and has not found a consistent correlation between the country of manufacture and the presence of toxic chemicals in the toys. 21% of toys from China and 16% of those from all other countries had detectable levels of lead in 2008. Seventeen toys manufactured in the U.S. were sampled this year and 35% of those had detectable levels of lead and two had levels over 600 ppm. One of the highest lead levels detected this year (190,943 ppm) was in a Halloween Pumpkin Pin that was made in the U.S.

It's not just lead:

In the 2008 testing, HealthyToys.org also screened toys for the presence of bromine-containing compounds. Forty-five products tested (2.9%) contained bromine at levels greater than 1,000 ppm. This level indicates the possible use of potentially hazardous brominated flame retardants in the products.

Other chemicals found in toys include cadmium, arsenic and mercury. We found cadmium at levels greater than 100 ppm in 1.9% of products or 30 of 1,528 total products tested. Arsenic was detected at levels greater than 100 ppm in 1.4% of products or 22 of 1,528 total products tested. Mercury was found above 100 ppm in 1% of products or 14 toys of 1,528 tested. Click here for photos of products with elevated levels of these chemicals.

Jewelry remains the most contaminated product category:

Jewelry remains the most contaminated product category. Children's jewelry is five-times more likely than other products to contain lead in concentrations greater than 600 ppm. Compared to 3% of other products, 15% of jewelry samples had lead levels over 600 ppm. Overall, jewelry is twice as likely to contain detectable levels of lead than other products we sampled. HealthyToys.org recommends that consumers avoid low cost children's jewelry.

Many plastic toys are made of PVC:

Many children's products are made of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) plastic. HealthyToys.org identified products made of PVC by measuring their chlorine content. Of the non-jewelry products we tested, 27% of products tested contained PVC. PVC is the worst plastic from an environmental health perspective because it can create major hazards in its manufacture, use and disposal and may contain additives that are dangerous to human health. PVC plastic without additives is a very brittle material. In order to make it flexible and to give it other properties, additional chemicals must be added. Phthalates are very commonly added to PVC to make it soft and flexible; however, they can leach out of the plastic. Phthalates have been implicated in some health problems in laboratory tests. Lead, cadmium and other metals are also commonly added to PVC products. Read more.

Safe Toys are Possible!

Some manufacturers are already doing it: many of the products tested did not contain any lead, cadmium, arsenic, mercury or PVC, including many made in China. The good news is that 62% (954) of all products tested contain LOW levels of chemicals of concern, and 21% (324) of all products contain NO chemicals of concern. These products look and feel no different from other children's products on the shelf. These results show that manufacturers can make toys free of unnecessary toxic chemicals.

To download photos of some of the toys with high and low contaminant levels, see the HeathyToys.org Media Resources.

Product Rating Summary: Number of products in each rating category (LOW, MEDIUM & HIGH) based on measured levels of all chemicals of concern.

  • LOW 954 (62%); 324 (21%) of the LOW products had NO Chemicals of Concern Detected
  • MEDIUM 439 (29%)
  • HIGH 135 (9%)

NOTE: HealthyToys.org is an initial screening of chemicals in toys for a handful of hazardous chemicals. There are a number of chemicals of concern that the X-ray fluorescence (XRF) device and HealthyToys.org cannot detect. For example, there has been much concern recently about bisphenol A, a component of polycarbonate plastic. The XRF device is not able to detect bisphenol A, nor can it identify polycarbonate. In addition, the XRF device cannot detect phthalates, a family of chemicals of concern, although we have used the presence of PVC plastic as a surrogate for the likely presence of phthalates.

* Please see our Methodology

HealthyToys.org ratings do not provide a measure of health risk or chemical exposure associated with any individual toy or children's product, or any individual element or related chemical. HealthyToys.org ratings only provide a relative measure of high, medium, and low concentrations of several hazardous chemicals or chemical elements in a toy or children's product in comparison to criteria established in the methodology.