HEAVY METAL CONTENT IN PLASTIC CHILDREN TOYS

In the children toys market, manufacturers are struggling to make the most profits, offering different products, some of which are of questionable quality and pose a potential danger to the health of children. The aim of the paper was to determine the content of heavy metals: cadmium, lead, zinc, iron and cobalt in coloured plastic toys. Another aim was to compare the concentration of these heavy metals in toys manufactured in China and the EU. Samples were prepared by wet digestion in the microwave oven Anton Paar Multiwave 3000. The sample was discharged in a mixture of nitric acid and hydrogen peroxide in Teflon vessels in a ratio of 1 ml H2O2 and 6 ml HNO3. The measurement was performed by atomic absorption spectrometry by flame technique, on the instrument 'Perkin Elmer' Analyst-800 with Zeeman correction. Six different types of children toys were analysed. The largest measured concentration for Cd was in sample 1 and it was 0.9 mu g/kg, while in samples 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6, Cd concentrations were below instrument detection for said heavy metal. The Pb content in all samples was below the limit of detection of flame atomic absorption spectrophotometry. The highest concentration of Co was in sample number 3 and it amounted to 5.6 mu g/kg while in the sample 2 the value was 3.5 mu g/kg. The content of Zn in sample 2 was 213.7 mu g/kg, while the other values were slightly lower. The lowest Fe concentration value was in sample number 1 from 6.8 mu g/kg and the highest 617.7 mu g/kg in the sample 5. The concentrations of all the analysed heavy metals in the scabbard parts from the toy for children were within the permissible concentration limits that have been prescribed by Directive 2009/48/EC on the safety of toys, and therefore these toys do not pose a risk to children health. Also, there were no major rejections of heavy metal concentrations in children toys, regardless of the origin of production (China or the EU).