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Findings

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Product rating

Toy safety

Methodology

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Rating System for HealthyToys.org

To establish levels considered low, medium, or high for the chemicals of concern, HealthyToys.org consulted existing voluntary toy standards, as well as mandatory toy, packaging, electronics, and vehicle standards. The levels are not intended to correspond to levels known to cause health effects. Rather, they are meant to provide a relative measure of the level of the chemical on the toy's surface.

Note: "ppm" represents parts per million.

Note: 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 site methodology.

Rationale for assigned levels

Lead

Although no amount of lead is safe for children, recently the American Academy of Pediatrics recommended a maximum of 40 ppm of lead in children's products. Toys that tested below this level were assigned a LOW level of lead. 

Toys with lead levels above 40 ppm but below 599 ppm were assigned a MEDIUM level. U.S. and European Union packaging standards limit lead to an upper limit of100 ppm in packaging. There is a proposed rule in Canada to limit lead in children's toys that can be put in the mouth to 90 ppm. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission's recall level for toys with lead paint is 600 ppm. Toys with lead levels at 600 ppm or higher were assigned a HIGH level.

Note: The European toy standard (for migration from toys) is 90 ppm. The U.S. voluntary toy standard (for migration from toys) is 90 ppm.

Cadmium

Levels below 40 ppm were deemed to be LOW. Products with cadmium between 41 and 100 ppm were assigned a MEDIUM level of cadmium. U.S. and European Union packaging standards limit cadmium to an upper limit of100 ppm in packaging. The European Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) directive sets a limit of 100 ppm. The European end-of-life vehicle standard is set at 100 ppm. Products with cadmium above 100 ppm were assigned a HIGH level of cadmium.

Note: The European toy standard (for migration from toys) is 75 ppm.  The U.S. voluntary toy standard (for migration from toys) is 75 ppm.

Mercury

Levels below 40 ppm were assigned a LOW level. Products with mercury between 41 and 100 ppm were assigned a MEDIUM level of mercury. U.S. and European Union packaging standards limit mercury to an upper limit of 100 ppm in packaging. The European RoHS directive sets a limit of 100 ppm. Products with mercury above 100 ppm were assigned a HIGH level of mercury.

Note: The European toy standard (for migration from toys) for mercury is 60 ppm. The U.S. voluntary toy standard (for migration from toys) is 60 ppm.

Arsenic

Levels below 40 ppm were deemed to be LOW. Products with arsenic between 41 and 100 ppm were assigned a MEDIUM level. Products with levels of arsenic above 100 ppm were assigned a HIGH level of arsenic.

Note: The European toy standard (for migration from toys) is 25 ppm. The U.S. voluntary toy standard (for migration from toys) is 25 ppm.

Chlorine/PVC

Chlorine was used as a surrogate for PVC plastic in our testing. Products with chlorine content above 10,000 ppm are very likely to be made primarily of PVC plastic. Products with chlorine content below 10,000 ppm chlorine cannot reliably be considered to be PVC plastic. Flexible PVC plastic is very likely to contain hazardous plasticizers called phthalates. Therefore, detection of high levels of chlorine in flexible plastics was used to infer the presence of phthalates even though the presence of phthalates cannot be measured directly by the XRF technology. We rely on inference because toy companies do not provide information about the chemical components of their toys, and the government does not require it. Products that we infer are not made of PVC were assigned a LOW level. Products that we infer are made of PVC, and thus likely to contain phthalate plasticizers, were assigned a MEDIUM level.

Other Chemicals of Concern

Bromine, antimony, tin, and chromium are among other elements that are detected by the XRF technology. However, each of these elements can be present in chemicals with widely varying molecular structures and toxicity. The XRF technology identifies the presence of the element but cannot identify the particular chemical in which the element is present in the product. As a result, it is difficult to draw conclusions about the chemical in the product. Therefore, the presence of bromine, antimony, tin, and chromium is noted when detected, but their concentrations are not used in the overall ranking of the product. More study of these chemicals in children's products is needed.

Bromine
If bromine was detected above 100 ppm, it was noted on the database for each product.

Antimony
If antimony was detected above 100 ppm, it was noted on the database for each product.

Note: The European toy standard (for migration from toys) is 60 ppm. The U.S. voluntary toy standard (for migration from toys) is 60 ppm.

Tin
If tin was detected above 100 ppm, it was noted on the database for each product.

Chromium
If chromium was detected above 100 ppm, it was noted on the database for each product.

Note: The European toy standard (for migration from toys) is 60 ppm. The U.S. voluntary toy standard (for migration from toys) is 60 ppm.

Calculation of Overall Rating

The overall rating was determined by the highest finding for the product for any single chemical. A toy with one or more HIGH ratings for individual chemicals would get a HIGH rating overall. A toy with one or more MEDIUM ratings and no high ratings would get a MEDIUM rating overall. To get a LOW rating overall, the toy must have only low ratings for lead, mercury, cadmium, and arsenic, and the product must not be made of PVC plastic.

We also noted the presence "other chemicals" in the overall rating. If the overall rating includes an asterisk, the product contained tin, antimony, chromium and/or bromine if those elements were found above 100 ppm. The presence of these chemicals was not calculated in the overall rating because there is less data on the hazards posed by these chemicals, or because the form of the chemical in the product could not be determined. The presence of these chemicals in children's products deserves more attention and research.

XRF detection limits for highlighted elements are as follows:

(1)Innov-X Model XRF Detector. Detection limits are estimates based on 1-2 minute test times and detection confidence of 3 sigma (99.7% confidence). Detection limits are a function of testing time, sample matrix and presence of interfering elements.
(2) Observed detection limits varied by the type of material being tested. Detection limits presented were the lowest levels observed.