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Survey, migration and health evaluation of chemical substances in toys and childcare products produced from foam plastic

1 Survey of toys

• 1.1 Definition of products
• 1.2 Survey of toys and childcare articles for children produced from foam plastic
• 1.3 Chemical composition of toys and childcare articles produced from foam plastic
• 1.4 Estimated consumption
• 1.5 Selection of products for analysis

The objective of Phase 1 is to make a survey of toys and childcare articles produced from foam plastic on the Danish market, including their chemical composition.

Phase 1 includes the following sub-activities:

• Definition of products
• Survey of Toys and Childcare articles produced from foam plastic
• Chemical composition of Toys and Childcare articles produced from foam plastic.
• Estimate of consumption
• Selection of products for analysis.

1.1 Definition of products

In the project description the Danish Environmental Protection Agency (DEPA) presented the following examples of toys and childcare articles produced from foam plastic: Floor puzzles and disguise items, such as masks, swords, and shields for role-playing. Most of the products intended for the formalized form of role-playing are made from latex and therefore excluded from this project. Apart from the product groups mentioned above, cuddly and soft-toys, handgrips on vehicles, support in rollers, protection equipment, soft balls, swim equipment, crowns and picture books were included in the survey, if they contained foam plastic. Mattresses and furniture containing foam plastics were excluded, as they are considered outside the target group of this project.

1.2 Survey of toys and childcare articles for children produced from foam plastic

The product survey of toys and childcare articles for children produced from foam plastic on the Danish marked was based on:

• Contact with 24 wholesalers. The list of potential wholesalers was generated from www.zapp-online.dk. Only 9 out of 24 wholesalers distributed this kind of toys. See table 1.1.
• Based on a list generated from www.nnerhverv.dk, 10 distributors of toys and childcare articles were contacted. 5 shops were selected either because they were among the largest distributors of toys or part of multiple shops. Jalsøe was chosen because of the large selection of childcare articles and the 4 minor shops were chosen because the represented other brands of toys than the large shops. See table 1.2.
• A search on Danish websites was performed in April 2005 via www.google.dk and www.yahoo.dk. The expressions searched on were: ”legetøj og skumplast” (toys and foam plastic), ”EVA skum sværd” (EVA foam sword) and “PUR skum legetøj” (PUR foam toys). The search also included the enterprises ”Visiodan” og ”Metrodan”, names that were found on foam products in a shop for childcare articles. References containing information on foam products in Denmark is listed in table 1.3.

DTC estimates that the above activities adequately illustrate the Danish market for toys and childcare articles produced from foam plastic. A list of products on the Danish marked is presented in table 1.4.

Table 1.1 Contacted wholesalers of toys (in bold), references from wholesalers to other distributors (not in bold)

^* Distributor of toys and childcare articles produced from foam plastic.

Table 1.2 Stores distributing toys and childcare articles

*Stores distributing toys and childcare articles produced from foam plastic.

Table 1.3 References from Danish websites containing information on foam plastic products

Table 1.4 Products produced from foam plastic found on the Danish market.

* Estimated by DTC

Figure 1 Distribution on different types of toys and childcare articles produced from foam plastic based on present survey

1.3 Chemical composition of toys and childcare articles produced from foam plastic

Experience shows that it is often difficult to obtain information on complete chemical composition from manufacturers. Since most of the products relevant for this project are made in the Far East, the elaboration of the survey of the chemical composition was complicated and the available information very sparse. It was not possible to obtain full chemical composition of any of the products. Only two manufacturers returned partial information on the chemical composition of the products. As this information is given in confidence, we have abstained from presenting this information to prevent transparency in the product information.

1.4 Estimated consumption

DTC received information on sales numbers from very few distributors of toys and childcare articles produced from foam plastic. The Association of Toy Manufacturers in Denmark that counts seven of the largest manufacturers of toys in Denmark evaluates that less than 1% of the total amount of toys is produced from foam plastic (1).

From the website “Danmarks statistik – www.statistikbanken.dk” information on imported products stated in either kilos or Danish crones was retrieved (2).

DTC estimated that there are four main groups of toys primarily made from plastic foam. The four main groups are toy weapons, puzzles, balls, and swim equipment. The remaining products are more isolated examples. e.g. a blackboard with a sponge made from foam, doll's pram with handgrips made from foam or rollers with foam insertion. As the scope of this project does not admit a thorough investigation of the different products, we have decided to focus on the main groups described in table 1.5.

It is not possible to select data on specific materials. Therefore data from the statistic base on a superior level have been selected followed by an estimate from DTC specified on foam plastic products.

Data have been selected as follows: The names of the four main groups in the statistics database are “toy weapons”, “puzzles except from wooden puzzles”, “balls except from balls for golf, table tennis, tennis, cricket, polo and inflatable balls” and “swim equipment including swimming- and paddling pools and childcare articles for outdoor play”. DTC found neither toys nor childcare articles made from plastic foam, which have been produced in Denmark. Therefore, only imported numbers are included in the below estimate (Table 1.5).

Table 1.5 Estimated amount of toys and childcare articles for children composed of foam plastic imported in 2004. The estimate is based on 4 main groups of toys.

* Estimated by DTC

The total amount of toys and childcare products imported to Denmark in 2004 is estimated to be 171.2 tons.

1.5 Selection of products for analysis

The Danish EPA has selected the products stated in table 1.6 for testing.

Table 1.6 Products for testing

Fodnoter

[1]. Danmarks statistik – www.statistikbanken.dk provided information on imported products stated in tons (2).

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Version 1.0 March 2006, © Danish Environmental Protection Agency