NEWS

In a major exercise, all toys — whether manufactured in India or abroad — available in the domestic market will be screened for toxicity under the guidance of the ICMR by experts of the National Institute of Occupational Health (NIOH), Ahmedabad, National Institute of Nutrition (NIN), Hyderabad, and the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi. The exercise comes following the Supreme Court taking an interest in ascertaining the level of pigments used to coat toys. According to experts, most India- and China-made toys are coated with substances comprising heavy metals such as lead and cadmium, which can be poisonous and even affect the brain. NIN officials informed, even as Chinese toys have been banned, the issue has become moiré urgent after Chinese toy manufacturing industries approached an international court to lift the ban. Sources at NIOH said that they have begun collecting toys from metropolitan cities across India, including Ahmedabad.