Survey of Chemical Substances in Consumer Products, 56 – Survey of chemical substances in toys for animals

Survey of chemical substances in toys for animals

Summary and conclusions

Toys for animals, especially toys designed for cats and dogs, often have the same appearance as toys for children. Contrary to toys for children, there are no requirements for the content of hazardous components in toys for animals. Thus there is a risk that children playing with toys for animals may be exposed to hazardous components.

One of the results of the market survey was that the products sold via the Internet are the same as the products sold in ordinary shops.

50 different pieces of toys for animals have been purchased, based on the criteria that the toy should be designed for a cat or a dog and at the same time appeal to children.

Only a limited number of the purchased products had a written product description, and again only few of these were in Danish. None of the products had a CE-marking (not a requirement, and if they had been marked, they might have been mistaken for toys for children).

All products were screened to evaluate the material of the product, as well as they were screened to find a content of chlorine, indicating PVC, which could suggest the presence of phthalate as plasticizer.

On the surface of some products, a silicone oil was detected, most likely used as a release layer.

The screening showed that the products were made mainly of PVC, rubber and textile materials of polyesters, but also other materials were identified. Approx. 40% of the toys were made of various rubber materials, while approx. 25% of the toys were made of PVC.

All PVC products contained large amounts of phthalate plasticizers. The products were found to contain between 11% and 54% by weight of either DEHP or DINP.

Two of the PVC products were transparent. In one of these a content of tin (Sn) of more than 0.5% by weight was found, probably coming from a stabilizer.

All PVC products were screened for their content of heavy metals.

Some of the PVC products had a relatively high content of heavy metals. These products were exposed to a migration analysis for heavy metals. None of the tested products had a migration of heavy metals exceeding the requirements for toys for children as given in DS/EN 71-3.

Three of the toys, all looking like mice, were made of real fur on a hard body of plastic. All these three had a high content of chromium, probably coming from the tanning process. By the migration analysis for heavy metals, all three mice had a migration of chromium exceeding the requirements given in DS/EN 71-3.

Cr(VI) was not found in any of the three mice.

Some of the rubber products, more than 25%, were found to release MBT (mercaptobenzothiazole), an agent used in the process of vulcanisation. The amount released varied from 0.5 to 5.9 μg MBT/cm².

The rubber products were also analysed for the release of volatile organic compounds. In all samples analysed a content of BHT (butylated hydroxytoluene) was found. In half of the samples the content varied from 0.1 to 0.8 μg BHT/g – in the rest of the samples it was only found in trace amounts. In one sample, a relatively high content of tetradecan was found, 1.5 mg C14/g. In addition, trace amounts of various other components were found.

One of the products had a very characteristic and strong smell. Most likely this odour comes from vanillin, often used as an additive in the production of rubber.

All textiles were analysed for their content of formaldehyde. Out of 19 samples (including the filling of the teddy bears), formaldehyde was found in 3 samples in an amount varying from 6 to 10 μg/g.

The textiles were also analysed for their content of brominated flame retardants. By screening it was found that 3 products had a high content of Br (bromine) that might indicate content of bromine-based flame retardants. However, these could not be found or identified.

Analysing the colourful textiles, neither azo-colourants nor aromatic amines could be found.

This project has been limited only to deal with the content of dangerous chemicals in toys for animals. Methods related to EN 71 were primarily used for the analyses. However, no evaluation in relation to the Toy Directive or other legislation has been done, e.g. whether the toy looks like food, or if the toy consists of small parts that may be swallowed.