Hand-Me-Down Toys Could Be Harmful To Children: Study Finds Toxic Chemicals In Secondhand Plastic Toys

Secondhand plastic toys could contain arsenic, lead, mercury, and other hazardous elements shows a recent study, which also reveals that brightly colored, old Legos may be the most dangerous.

Image of a young boy playing with plastic building blocks.

The prospect of hand-me-down toys may be financially appealing for some parents, but a new study cautions that secondhand plastic toys may contain toxic chemicals that could put children’s health at risk.

The research, carried out by Dr. Andrew Turner, an associate professor at the University of Plymouth, England, looked at around 200 used plastic toys sourced in the UK — such as cars, trains, building blocks, plastic figures, and puzzles — and found that more than 10 percent of them had traces of nine hazardous chemicals.

“Secondhand toys are an attractive option to families because they can be inherited directly from friends or relatives or obtained cheaply and readily from charity stores, flea markets, and the internet,” Dr. Turner said in a statement.

The researcher analyzed the secondhand plastic toys with x-ray fluorescence spectrometry and discovered traces of arsenic, lead, mercury, barium, cadmium, chromium, bromine, antimony, and selenium in their composition.

Of the nearly 200 toys used in the study, more than 20 had traces of all nine chemicals. High concentrations of these hazardous elements were discovered particularly in brightly colored Legos, as well as in plastic figures and jewelry items “that were typically either yellow, red or black.”

All nine harmful chemicals found in the secondhand plastic toys can become “chronically toxic” to children in the case of prolonged exposure to even low levels of these hazardous elements, notes a news release by the university.

For instance, BBC News reports cadmium is a carcinogen that should be avoided at all costs. At the same time, the World Health Organization (WHO) shows that long-term ingestion of arsenic (which could happen if children chewed on these toys or simply put them in their mouth) can lead to developmental defects, diabetes, pulmonary disease, and cardiovascular disease.

Lead is equally dangerous, particularly to young children, who are more vulnerable to its toxic effects, warns the WHO. Exposure to lead can cause “permanent adverse health effects,” jeopardizing the development of the brain and nervous system.

According to the news release, the secondhand plastic toys used in the study were gathered from homes, thrift shops, and nurseries across southwest England. At the same time, all the hand-me-down toys were small enough to be chewed by infants, which is a problem considering the plastic in these old toys may not be tested or up to date with the latest international safety guidelines.

“Lego bricks from the 70s and 80s are the big fail,” Dr. Turner pointed out.

“Toys in those days weren’t tested and now we’re using them and handing them down,” he explained.

Chewing on these plastic toys increases the risk of exposure to the toxic chemicals in their composition and could end up exposing children to higher levels of these hazardous elements due to a process called migration — the movement of atoms within a molecule.

To assess the migration of toxic chemicals in secondhand plastic toys, Dr. Turner conducted a second analysis on 26 of them by testing them in “simulated stomach conditions.” The results showed that 10 of the 26 secondhand plastic toys released alarming quantities of bromine, cadmium, or lead.

Moreover, the test revealed that the secreted amounts of chemicals were so high they exceeded the limits set by the European Council’s Toy Safety Directive, shows the news release.

Of all the types of toys involved in the test, yellow and red Lego bricks were shown to be the most dangerous, releasing a level of cadmium that exceeded its limit “by an order of magnitude,” Dr. Turner shows in his study.

“While there is no retroactive regulation on secondhand toys, consumers should be aware that old, mouthable, plastic items may present a source of hazardous element exposure to infants,” he concludes in his paper published in the journal Environmental Science and Technology.