The prospect of hand-me-down toys may be financially appealing for some parents, but a new study cautions that secondhand plastic toys may contain toxic chemicals that could put children’s health at risk.
The research, carried out by Dr. Andrew Turner, an associate professor at the University of Plymouth, England, looked at around 200 used plastic toys sourced in the UK — such as cars, trains, building blocks, plastic figures, and puzzles — and found that more than 10 percent of them had traces of nine hazardous chemicals.
“Secondhand toys are an attractive option to families because they can be inherited directly from friends or relatives or obtained cheaply and readily from charity stores, flea markets, and the internet,” Dr. Turner said in a statement.
The researcher analyzed the secondhand plastic toys with x-ray fluorescence spectrometry and discovered traces of arsenic, lead, mercury, barium, cadmium, chromium, bromine, antimony, and selenium in their composition.
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