Concerns continue to grow about what is causing the increase in autism, cancers and other childhood disorders. We see higher levels in the environment for pesticides, heavy metals, steroids, antibiotics and potentially toxic compounds used in the production of plastics. These alone or in combination could be responsible for some of these increases. Plastic additives are of particular concern because it is virtually impossible to limit a child’s exposure to food and drink containers, toys, etc. which can lead directly to the ingestion of plasticizers such as phthalates and bisphenol A (BPA).
In fact children’s products are often targeted for testing and regulation where the potential for toxic exposure is even greater than for adults. The US has started to limit levels of some phthalates, including DEP, DEHP, DBP, BBP, for use in children’s’ products. The Consumer Product Safety Commission has published testing methods for these regulated phthalates while the regulation of BPA remains under debate. A study was undertaken here to examine the levels of phthalates and BPA in small, inexpensive, imported children’s toys. New cryogenic grinding methods developed to process the different types of plastic toys examined and new quantitative analytical methods developed specifically for these analyses are described and the results discussed.
“The Preparation, Extraction, and Analysis of Imported Children’s Toys for Phthalates and BPA.”
Presented by Patricia Atkins at Pittcon 2012
Download the slides (.pdf) from this very informative presentation.
Want to learn more? Join SPEX CertiPrep for a FREE webinar!
Join SPEX CertiPrep on May 3rd, 2012 at 10AM or 2PM for an informative webinar on the sample preparation of imported plastic toys for the analysis of BPA and phthalates.