During the last couple of years there has been a raising awareness of volatile organic chemicals (VOCs) emitted from soft plastic toys. This was initiated by a Danish survey of VOCs in squishy toys a few years ago that revealed alarming levels and lead to withdrawal of squishies from the Danish market.
The Norwegian survey included 45 toys in all. The toys were selected based on the following criteria: handheld, low price, easily available and smell. Based on a screening, 12 of the toys were selected for in-depth risk assessment.
One problematic toy
Despite emission of hundreds of different volatile organic compounds (VOCs), only one toy stood out and was considered to represent an unacceptable user risk. This toy emitted unacceptable levels of xylenes, cyclic siloxanes and cyclohexanone.
Download the full report Risk assessment of VOCs in handheld toys for children
The analyses were carried out by the Norwegian Institute for Air Research (NILU) in 2020, and the toxicological assessments were performed by DHI on behalf of the Norwegian Environment Agency.
For more information, please contact:
Poul Bo Larsen
pbl@dhigroup.com
Tel +45 4516 9478
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