Heavy metals in children's toys and baby items commonly sold in Trinidad and Tobago

Overview

This peer-reviewed Journal of Environmental Chemistry and Ecotoxicology paper measures total lead (Pb), nickel (Ni), chromium (Cr), cadmium (Cd), Cu, and Mn in eighteen plastic children’s toys and baby items (eleven toys, seven baby items) sold in Trinidad and Tobago by Flame Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometry (FAAS) after 550–600 °C ashing and 70% HNO3 digestion. Pb, Ni, and Cr are detected in every sample; Cd, Cu, and Mn are detected in fewer than 40% of samples. Every Pb value in both the toys (2.5–34.5 mg/kg) and the baby items (2.1–14.7 mg/kg) exceeds the EN 71-3:2013 Category I total-content limit of 2 mg/kg; the purple jewellery (34.5 mg/kg Pb) and the rubber duck (4.1 mg/kg Cd) are reported as exceeding the EU regulatory ceilings cited by the authors. Despite these exceedances, the USEPA-style oral ingestion hazard quotients (Pb HQ 0.007–0.115; Ni HQ 0.0015–0.0113; Cr HQ 0.0036–0.0627) and the summed hazard indices (HI 0.0156–0.1447 across the eighteen items) remain below 1 under the authors’ default exposure model (15 kg body weight, 0.0002 kg/day intake, 5-year exposure duration), leading the authors to conclude that the items pose generally low ingestion risk to children. The paper also transcribes prior heavy-metals-in-toys ranges from Vietnam, Malaysia, India, Nigeria, China, and Palestine for context.

Key numbers

All concentrations are total elemental content (not migration) measured in triplicate by Flame Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometry (FAAS) following 550–600 °C dry ashing for 2 h and 130 °C nitric-acid (analar-grade 70%) digestion for 2 h, filtered through Whatman No. 541, made up to 50 mL with deionized water. Units: mg/kg of whole sample (samples were charred and ashed in entirety, not paint scraped). BDL = below detection limit.

Quality control (Results, p. 61)

• Spiked-sample percent recoveries: 102.9–114.4% across Pb, Cd, Cr, Ni, Cu, and Mn (spike concentration 1 mg/L applied to triplicate-prepared samples; method blank included).
• Calibration linearity (R²): 0.9944–0.9999.
• Replication: triplicate sample preparation with method blank and one spiked sample per analytical batch.
• Glassware preparation: Grade “A” volumetric glassware, washed and soaked overnight in 10% (v/v) HNO3, multi-rinse with deionized water, air-dried.

Per-sample concentrations — toys (Table 1, p. 62; mg/kg, mean ± SD where reported)

Per-sample concentrations — baby items (Table 1, p. 62; mg/kg, mean ± SD where reported)

Range summary across the eighteen-item sample (Results, p. 60–61)

Pb, Ni, and Cr were detected in all eighteen samples; Cd, Cu, and Mn were each detected in fewer than 40% of samples (Discussion, p. 61).

Regulatory-comparison statements made in the source

• Pb vs EN 71-3:2013 Category I (2 mg/kg total content; Discussion p. 61): all eighteen samples exceed this limit. The lowest Pb value reported (rattle 2.1 mg/kg) sits just above the limit; the highest (purple jewellery 34.5 mg/kg) is roughly 17× the limit.
• Pb vs EU regulatory limit (cited in abstract as the basis for exceedance counts): the abstract states “two samples exceed the regulatory limit for lead and one exceeded the regulatory limit for cadmium set by the EU.” The two Pb exceedances are not explicitly enumerated in the body but, by inspection of Table 1 relative to the EN 71-3 90 mg/kg migration limit referenced elsewhere, the abstract appears to reference the EN 71-3:2013 Category I 2 mg/kg total-content limit rather than the 90 mg/kg migration limit; on that basis the body’s “lead levels for both the toys and baby items were higher than the EN 71-3:2013 Category I limit of 2 mg/kg” statement reconciles the abstract’s “two samples” count against the same reference only if “two samples” refers to the two values explicitly called out in the body (purple jewellery 34.5 mg/kg and teething ring 14.7 mg/kg). The body’s claim that all values exceed the 2 mg/kg limit is the operative quantitative reading.
• Cd vs EU regulatory limit: the rubber duck (4.1 mg/kg Cd) is the one Cd exceedance noted in the abstract. The body does not specify whether the reference value is the EN 71-3 Category I total-content limit for Cd (1.9 mg/kg) or the EN 71-3 Category III migration limit (17 mg/kg); the rubber duck value exceeds the former but not the latter.
• Cr (III) and Ni vs “recommended limits” of 37.5 and 75 mg/kg respectively (Discussion p. 61): all eighteen samples comply with both. The source does not name the underlying standard explicitly in the body but the values match EN 71-3:2013 Category I total-content limits for chromium(III) (37.5 mg/kg) and nickel (75 mg/kg).
• Cd, Cu, and Mn vs EN 71-3:2013 Category I (Discussion p. 61): all detected values are below the cited Category I limits for these metals.

USEPA-style non-carcinogenic ingestion risk assessment (Table 3, p. 63)

Exposure model parameters (Methods, p. 60–61):

Reference doses (RfD, mg/kg/day; Methods p. 61, citing Ismail et al. 2017 and Patrick-Iwuanyanwu & Udowelle 2017):

Hazard-quotient ranges across the eighteen samples (Table 3 + Results p. 62–63):

Average Daily Dose of ingestion (ADD, mg/kg/day) ranges per the abstract: Pb 3 × 10⁻⁵ – 1.0 × 10⁻⁴; Ni 3.1 × 10⁻⁵ – 2.3 × 10⁻⁴; Cr 1.0 × 10⁻⁵ – 2.0 × 10⁻⁴.

Hazard-index (HI = ΣHQ) range across the eighteen items: 0.0156 (Pacifier silicone) – 0.1447 (Rubber duck) (Table 3). The authors’ framing: HQ < 1 indicates no expected non-carcinogenic adverse effect; HI < 1 indicates no expected adverse effect from cumulative exposure across the six metals.

Comparison-with-other-countries summary (Table 2, p. 62)

Reported by the authors as a literature-comparison table (mg/kg total-content ranges for plastic toys):

These are external-study transcriptions for context, not measurements made in the present paper.

Methods (brief)

• Sample collection: 18 plastic children’s toys and baby items intended for children under 5 years of age, obtained from the Trinidad and Tobago Bureau of Standards. Eleven toys and seven baby items (enumerated in sample_population).
• Sample preparation: soft plastic samples cut into approximately 0.5 cm pieces; brittle samples crushed to powder. Approximately 0.5–3 g of sample weighed into porcelain crucibles, charred on a hot plate until fuming ceased, then ashed in a furnace at 550–600 °C for 2 h. Crucibles cooled; 10 mL of analar-grade 70% nitric acid added and left to pre-digest 24 h at room temperature; samples digested at 130 °C for 2 h; cooled; filtered through Whatman No. 541; made up to 50 mL with deionized water.
• Analytical method: Flame Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometry (FAAS) for Pb, Ni, Cr, Cd, Cu, and Mn. The Methods section reads “samples were then analysed for Pb, Ni, Mg, Cd, Cr, and Cu by Flame Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometry (FAAS)”; the abstract, Table 1, and Table 3 consistently report Pb, Ni, Cr, Cd, Cu, and Mn (manganese, not magnesium), so the Methods text contains a “Mg” typo for Mn that the rest of the paper corrects. The actual analytes are Pb, Ni, Cr, Cd, Cu, Mn.
• Matrix: total elemental content of whole-toy/whole-baby-item material (charred-and-ashed bulk), not migration extract and not paint coating in isolation. This contrasts with EN 71-3 standard migration testing, which extracts soluble elements from sample surfaces under HCl conditions simulating gastric extraction.
• QC: triplicate samples, method blank, spiked sample (1 mg/L of Cd, Cr, Ni, Pb, Cu, and Mn); spike percent recovery 102.9–114.4%; calibration R² 0.9944–0.9999.
• Speciation: none reported. Cr is total Cr, not hexavalent chromium (Cr-VI) vs Cr(III) speciated. Pb is total Pb. arsenic (As) (arsenic), mercury (Hg) (mercury), tin (Sn) (tin), and Sb (antimony) are not part of the analyte panel — outside the analyte scope of this paper.
• Risk assessment: USEPA-style ADD/HQ/HI per Ismail et al. (2017), with RfDs from Ismail et al. (2017) and Patrick-Iwuanyanwu & Udowelle (2017). Body weight 15 kg, intake rate 0.0002 kg/day, exposure duration 5 years.
• No migration testing performed. The authors note that EN 71-3:2019, ASTM F963-17, and ISO 8124-3:2020 are the standard methods for migration assessment and acknowledge that the present total-content data are not directly comparable to the migration limits set by those standards. The body explicitly states that 8 mg/day estimated per-child intake of toy components is the basis of the EN 71-3 migration limit calibration (citing Kumar and Pastore 2007).

Implications

• HMTc audit implications. For HMTc work on Pacifiers and sucking/teething aids, Children’s jewelry, Infant bottle nipples, Sippy cups and toddler drinkware, and the various toy product rows, this source contributes per-sample total-content occurrence data for Pb, Ni, Cr, Cd, Cu, and Mn across eighteen retail-purchased Trinidad and Tobago samples. The Pb data are the most actionable for HMTc threshold work: every sample exceeded the EN 71-3:2013 Category I 2 mg/kg total-content limit, and the purple jewellery (34.5 mg/kg) and teething ring (14.7 mg/kg) are the upper-tail observations. The Cd data identify the rubber duck (4.1 mg/kg) as a Category I exceedance per the EN 71-3 reference. The total-content basis here is not directly comparable to migration-based EN 71-3 enforcement but is the operative basis when the HMTc standard is set on bulk-substrate composition rather than on simulated saliva extract. The Mn HQ value for the rubber duck (0.901, near 1) is the single largest non-Pb hazard-quotient value in the dataset and merits attention in any HMTc rubber-duck or squeeze-toy threshold work.
• Occurrence data contribution. Direct evidence for: children’s jewelry (4 samples), pacifiers and sucking/teething aids (3 pacifiers + 1 teething ring = 4 samples), infant bottle nipples (1 sample), sippy cups and toddler drinkware (1 sample), squeeze toys (1 rubber duck), rattles (1 sample), stuffed/plush toys (1 pink bear), and substrate materials of generic plastic toys (4 samples: 2 building blocks, doctor set, car, princess doll). The single-sample-per-form structure for several baby-item categories is a meaningful limitation noted in the verification notes.
• Regulatory landscape. The paper anchors against EN 71-3:2013 Category I total-content limits and the EN 71-3 migration-limit framework, with the authors flagging that Trinidad and Tobago and the wider Caribbean have no local regulations on heavy metals in toys and baby items. The cited “recommended limits” of 37.5 mg/kg (Cr-III) and 75 mg/kg (Ni) appear consistent with EN 71-3:2013 Category I values for these metals though the source does not name the standard explicitly.
• App. The per-sample data are relevant to a future infant-contact-product screening surface for non-food exposure pathways. The high-Pb purple-jewellery and teething-ring observations are useful upper-tail anchors when the app reasons about hand-to-mouth and chewed-product exposure scenarios for the under-5 age group.
• Courses. A useful worked example of total-content FAAS analysis (not migration) of consumer toys with a transparent USEPA-style HQ/HI calculation. Pedagogically suitable for illustrating the distinction between total elemental content and migrated (bioaccessible) content, and the limitations of total-content-based risk assessment for infant-contact products under chewing/sucking behaviour.
• Microbiome. Not directly applicable.

Related evidence

• Lead
• Cadmium
• Chromium
• Nickel
• Copper
• Manganese
• Children's Jewelry
• Pacifiers and sucking/teething aids
• Bottle nipples and spouts
• Sippy cups and toddler drinkware components
• Squeeze toys
• Rattles
• Stuffed toys and bean bag-type toys
• Toy substrate materials (accessible plastics/metals/woods/rubbers)

Update history

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