Determination of Heavy Metals Contamination in Children's Toys Marketed in Hamadan City in 2015

Toys are integral part of children’s developmental processes. Besides providing entertainment to children, toys also serve as educational materials for them. Chemical exposure to children, from toys, is an emerging concern. Therefore, quality control of toy is very important. The aim of this study was examined heavy metals (As, Pb, Cd and Cr) content within the plastic children’s toys marketed in Hamadan city in 2015.
Totally 30 specimens of toy were collected from market basket of Hamadan City. After preparation and processing the samples in the laboratory, the concentration of metals in samples were determined using atomic absorption spectrophotometer (AAS). Also, all statistical analyses were performed using the SPSS statistical package.
The results showed that the maximum mean concentrations of metals in domestic production and imported plastic toys were 6.20±5.41 and 7.58±2.12 mg/kg for Cr and Pb, respectively. Also the mean concentrations of metals in all samples were lower than Iranian National Standards Organization and European Commission permissible limits.
Although the results showed that mean concentrations of metals in children’s toys were lower than ISIRI and CEN permissible limits, but as regards the chewing, licking and swallowing behavior of children is a common source of metals exposure, acting quickly by adopting policies to protect and educate consumers about the risks posed by plastic made toys needs a special attention which could help protect children’s lives especially in Iran.