Toxic Teddybears
PBDEs in all plush toys tested
21.12.2005 | Sascha Gabizon
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Is Teddy a pollution magnet?
Janet Raloff
From Baltimore, at a meeting of the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry
Plush toys can accumulate potentially toxic air pollutants, a new study finds.
The toys' stuffing is virtually identical to absorbents used to collect volatile chemicals for lab analysis, notes Caitlin Corbitt of Chatham College in Pittsburgh. So, she and her Chatham colleague Renee Falconer probed for 13 toxic pesticides and 7 flame-retarding polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) in the fabric, padding, and core of stuffed animals.
Of 11 toys tested so far, most contained a broad range of compounds, with highest concentrations in the exterior fabric—not the stuffing. This suggests that the toys were probably sprayed with the flame retardants during manufacture and absorbed the pesticides after that, Corbitt says.
PBDE 47 was found in all toys, and PBDE 99 was in most—usually at values of around 2 to 4 parts per billion (ppb). One toy labeled as made from recycled materials, however, carried a whopping 67,900 ppb of PBDE 47. The two PBDEs have been linked to learning impairments in rodents exposed to the chemicals during brain development (SN: 10/25/03, p. 269: Available to subscribers at http://www.sciencenews.org/articles/20031025/note12.asp).
Most toys also carried residues of DDT, a long-banned insecticide, and pesticides once used against termites. The surprise was finding high concentrations—100 to 400 ppb—of these chemicals, Falconer says. Such data suggest, she says, that parents should regularly wash absorbent toys that toddlers put in their mouths.
References:
Corbitt, C., and R. Falconer. 2005. Brominated flame retardants and organochlorine pesticides in children's stuffed toys. SETAC North America 26th Annual Meeting. Nov. 13-17. Baltimore. Abstract available at
http://abstracts.co.allenpress.com/pweb/setac2005/document/?ID=56087.
Further Readings:
Lee, J. 2003. California to ban chemicals used as flame retardants. New York Times. Aug. 10.
Petreas, M., et al. 2003. High body burdens of 2,2'4,4'- tetrabromodiphenyl ether (BDE-47) in California women. Environmental Health Perspectives 111(July):1175-1179. Available at http://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/members/2003/6220/6220.html.
Raloff, J. 2003. Flame retardants take a vacation. Science News 164(Oct. 25):269. Available to subscribers at http://www.sciencenews.org/articles/20031025/note12.asp.
2003. Flame retardants morph into dioxins. Science News 163(May 24):334. Available to subscribers at http://www.sciencenews.org/articles/20030524/note15.asp.
2001. Fire retardant catfish? Science News Online (Dec. 8). Available at http://www.sciencenews.org/20011208/food.asp.
2001. Nations sign on to persistent-pollutants ban. Science News 159(June 2):343. Available to subscribers at http://www.sciencenews.org/articles/20010602/fob9.asp.
Sources:
Caitlan Corbitt
Chatham College
Department of Chemistry
Woodland Road
Pittsburgh, PA 15232
Renee L. Falconer
Chatham College
Department of Chemistry
Woodland Road
Pittsburgh, PA 15232
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