Toxics Alert: Recycling plastics contaminate children’s toys with toxic chemicals’

Source: The Guardian, April, 2017 :- Ahead of the eighth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Stockholm Convention (SC COP-8) in Geneva, Switzerland, a new global survey has revealed that recycling plastics containing toxic flame retardant chemicals found in electronic waste results in contamination of new children’s toys and related products. The substances include octabromodiphenyl ether (OctaBDE), decabromodiphenyl ether (DecaBDE), and hexabromocyclododecane (HBCD). This study found all three toxic chemicals in recycled plastic children’s products. These chemicals are known to disrupt human hormone systems, adversely impacting the development of the ner- vous system and children’s intelligence. In a survey of products from 26 countries including Nigeria, 90 per cent of the samples contained OctaBDE or DecaBDE. Nearly half of them (43per cent) contained HBCD. Recycling materials that contain persistent organic pollutants (POPs) and other toxic substances contaminates new products, continues human and environmental exposure, and undermines the credibility of recycling.

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Recycling plastics contaminate children’s toys with toxic chemicals’

Source: The Guardian, Date: , 2017