Toxic metals in children's toys and jewelry: Coupling bioaccessibility with risk assessment

• Contamination of toxic metals in children's toys and jewelry (TJ) were studied.
• Metals including Pb, Cd, Cr, and Ni in some TJ exceeded the EU safety limits.
• Hazard index of TJ was assessed based on bioaccessible metals via saliva mobilization and oral ingestion.
• Hazard index was >> 1 for Ni, and unacceptable for As, Cd, Cr, and Sb in some TJ.

A total of 45 children's toys and jewelry were tested for total and bioaccessible metal concentrations. Total As, Cd, Sb, Cr, Ni, and Pb concentrations were 0.22–19, 0.01–139, 0.1–189, 0.06–846, 0.14–2894 and 0.08–860,000 mg kg−1. Metallic products had the highest concentrations, with 3–7 out of 13 samples exceeding the European Union safety limit for Cd, Pb, Cr, or Ni. However, assessment based on hazard index >1 and bioaccessible metal showed different trends. Under saliva mobilization or gastric ingestion, 11 out of 45 samples showed HI >1 for As, Cd, Sb, Cr, or Ni. Pb with the highest total concentration showed HI <1 for all samples while Ni showed the most hazard with HI up to 113. Our data suggest the importance of using bioaccessibility to evaluate health hazard of metals in children's toys and jewelry, and besides Pb and Cd, As, Ni, Cr, and Sb in children's products also deserve attention.

Figure optionsDownload as PowerPoint slide