New EU Rules Allow Toxic Chemicals in Children’s Toys and Other Products Made of Recycled Plastics

The European Parliament and Council decision on the reform of the Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) Regulation announced this week, hailed as protective for health, will keep children exposed to hazardous flame-retardant chemicals associated with thyroid disruption and neurological deficits. Under the agreement, high levels of hazardous brominated flame retardants that are present in electronics waste, including those already banned by the Stockholm Convention, will be allowed in recycled plastics.  

The new rules allow 500 mg/kg of brominated flame retardants listed for global elimination under the Stockholm Convention in mixtures and articles. Environmental health researchers from Arnika, HEAL, and IPEN demonstrated that toxic brominated flame retardants are entering the waste stream from discarded electronics. These chemicals, known to disrupt the thyroid function and cause neurological and attention deficits in children, were found in a concerning number of children's products and other consumer products made from recycled plastics across Europe. With this limit, the European Parliament and Council accept to leave our children at risk of contamination from persistent organic pollutants – chemicals that the Stockholm Convention aims to eliminate globally due to health and environmental concerns.

The recent reporT Toxic Loophole: Recycling Hazardous Waste into New Products found that 92 % of laboratory tested consumer products, including toys, purchased in 19 European countries are contaminated with flame retardants known as BDEs  (which primarily come from recycled electronic waste). Ironically, 64 % of the tested products will be legal because of the unreasonably high limit set by the EU. 

“The EU’s agreed limit of 500 mg/kg for these substances in mixtures and articles is a permission slip to contaminate children’s toys with toxic flame retardants. Do members of the European Parliament and Council find it acceptable that our children play with persistent organic pollutants designated for global elimination?,” asked lead study author Jitka Strakova, a researcher from Arnika who specializes in POPs.

The limits set in the European Parliament and Council agreement constitute a loophole, say researchers, that will allow a set of toxic chemicals to persist and harm health.

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