Survey of Chemical Substances in Consumer Products, 74 – Evaluation of the health risk to animals playing with phthalate containing toys

Evaluation of the health risk to animals playing with phthalate containing toys

1 Introduction

Phthalates are used as plasticisers in various polymers (e.g., PVC) that are found in a wide range of products. While the use of phthalates in toys for children is regulated in Denmark, there is no regulation of the use of phthalates in toys for pets.

An investigation of chemicals in toys for cats and dogs available on the Danish market and on the Internet (Nielsen et al. 2005 A) revealed that investigated toys made of PVC contained large amounts of 2 phthalates – di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP) and di-isononyl-phthalate (DINP). Since the phthalates are not chemically bound in the material, they may be released from the products during their lifetime. Therefore cats and dogs may be exposed to these substances while playing with the toy. Some of the critical effects of the phthalates include effects on liver and kidney as well as effects on the development of the reproductive system of animals.

The aim of the present report is therefore to evaluate the health risk to dogs and cats playing with phthalate containing toys.

In order to evaluate the risk both exposure- and effect assessments will be carried out. Established exposure as well as effect levels will be used to estimate margin of safety (MOS). The effect assessment will be in concordance with the EU Risk Assessment Reports on DINP (2001) and DEHP (2001). The exposure assessment will focus on a relevant scenario and deterministic estimations of exposure will be made using a range of values for certain parameters.