Toys, headphones, yoga mats, cycling gloves, shoes, jewelry… Nearly one in five consumer items should be banned from sale due to the excessive presence of dangerous chemicals (lead , cadmium, phthalates, etc.), warns the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) in a report published Wednesday December 13. Of around 2,400 items checked in 2022 in twenty-six countries of the European Union (EU), including France, by fraud prevention services or customs, more than 400 (20%) were in violation of the legislation European, according to the ECHA analysis.
Electrical devices (electric toys, chargers, cables, headphones) are the first to be affected: more than half of this category of articles (52%) was deemed non-compliant, mainly due to the presence of lead in the solders, phthalates in soft plastic parts or cadmium in printed circuits. Largely underestimated until now, the health impacts of exposure to lead have been reassessed at more than five million deaths per year worldwide and a loss of intelligence quotient of around 765 million points among people. children under 5 years old worldwide, according to a study published in September in the scientific journal The Lancet Planetary Health. Phthalates, used to make plastics more flexible, are endocrine disruptors that are particularly harmful to reproduction. As for cadmium, it is classified as carcinogenic, mutagenic and reprotoxic and is particularly involved in the explosion of pancreatic cancers.
These three chemicals have also been detected at excessive levels in fashion items – bags, jewelry, belts, shoes or clothing. According to test results, 15% of these items are non-compliant. With 16% non-compliance, non-electric toys are also full of products dangerous to health: phthalates in soft plastic parts, but also other regulated substances such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH), nickel, boric acid or nitrosamines. The report cites bath toys, childcare items such as play mats, dolls, costumes, plastic figurines and even slime (viscous goo).
The last major category of products where violations were brought to light by inspections was sports equipment. Yoga mats, bicycle gloves, balls, rubber handles… 18% of these products were found to be non-compliant, mainly due to the presence of short-chain chlorinated paraffins (flame retardants), phthalates in the plastic and PAHs in rubber.
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