Medicinski vjesnik, Vol. 47 No. (1-2), 2015.
Original scientific paper
Monitoring of phtalates' presence in children'd toys - assessment of their conformity
Jasna Bošnir
; Institute for Public Health ”Dr. Andrija Štampar”
Lidija Barušić
; Institute for Public Health ”Dr. Andrija Štampar”
Lidija Baričević
; Institute for Public Health ”Dr. Andrija Štampar”
Josipa Konjarik
; Institute for Public Health ”Dr. Andrija Štampar”
Antonija Galić
; Institute for Public Health ”Dr. Andrija Štampar”
Adela Krivohlavek
; Institute for Public Health ”Dr. Andrija Štampar”
Abstract
Phthalates are plasticizers that are often added to children’s toys and other items made of
plastic masses, so they are designed in a way to be acceptable to children from early childhood.
As a number of studies points out their toxic properties and potential adverse effects on children’s
health, this paper presents the results of monitoring their presence in children’s toys for almost
six years in order to assess their conformity and their free placement on the Croatian market.
In the period from 2010 to mid-2015, a total of 763 samples of children’s toys made of plastic were analyzed.
Samples were analyzed for six different phthalates: di-(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP), dibutyl phthalate (DBP),
benzyl butyl phthalate (BBP), di-isononyl phthalate (DINP), di-isodecyl phthalate (DIDP), and di-n-octyl phthalate (DNOP).
After extraction, the methods of gas chromatography and mass spectrometry (GC-MS) were used for identification
and quantification of each phthalate.
Out of 763 analyzed samples of children’s toys, 105 (13.76 %) samples were assessed as
non-conforming. The highest percentage of non-conforming samples was determined in 2013
(23.39 %), followed by the year 2011, when it was found that 15.33 % of children’s toys contained higher phthalate
levels than allowed. In 2012, the number of non-conforming samples was 20 (12.9 %), out of 155 samples analyzed.
In 2010, 10.77 % of the samples were non-conforming, 7.5 % in 2014, while for the whole first half of 2015,
out of 22 samples analyzed, 2 samples (9.1 %) were non-conforming.
The results proved that a considerable number of samples of toys analyzed released phthalates
in quantities higher than permitted, and were evaluated as non-conforming. Since such toys can
harm children’s health, it is necessary to strengthen the systematic control of this type of samples
at all levels, such as production, imports and the free sale, especially when the results showed
that the number of analyzed samples of toys, after the accession of the Republic of Croatia to the
European Union decreased significantly compared to the previous period.
Keywords
Phthalic acids – adverse effects, analysis, chemistry, classification; Fatty acids – adverse effects, analysis, chemistry, classification; Play and playthings; Gas chromatographymass spectrometry - methods
Hrčak ID:
193291
URI
Publication date:
17.12.2015.
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