Chemicals in Products
We go to bed after spraying mosquito repellents and breathe the chemical through the night. We begin the day with yet another chemical compound paste called tooth paste and go on using liquids of different types for making us up. Room fresheners,toilet fresheners and so on. But should we expose our kids too to such chemical consumption? Is it right on our part?
An extremely wide variety of materials are used in toys, from textiles to wood to plastic and like many products they have the potential to contain regulated chemicals and other substances of concern such as possible hormone-disrupters. In the EU toys are the product with the most notifications for regulatory non-compliance and while the most frequent notifications are related to small parts (a choking hazard) the second most frequent are related to chemicals in toys in excess of regulated thresholds.
Information on chemicals needed for regulatory compliance is available to the firms that participated in this study. While there is not an uninterrupted flow of information on chemicals along the supply chain – a flow that begins with material producers and continues through each supplier to the toy manufacturer, retailer and consumers – firms did state the information they need for compliance documentation is either generated by their suppliers or obtained with laboratory testing. The obstacles they identified were related to efficiency – access to information could become more efficient among supply chain actors if queries and formats were better understood. Authorities reported a need for information to control imports and exports. Producers reported a need for information on specific end-uses of the substances they supply, in order to inform their risk assessments.
Less information is exchanged on non-regulated chemicals and on regulated chemicals beyond minimum thresholds. NGOs stated consumers do not have access to the information they need to make decisions on toy purchases. Small toy manufacturers stated they do not have information, nor expertise, to know what chemicals to manage beyond what is required by law (and across the board toy safety regulations in Japan, the EU and the US were referred to as the most stringent, with a scope that is expanding to include chemicals). And large companies stated they use product testing to respond to requests for non-regulatory information. Retailers – especially specialised retailers serving an informed consumer group – report such requests do occur, though still infrequently. The study found no common system for chemicals information exchange in the sector.
The potential to enhance the access to information in the sector can be understood in terms of two sector characteristics: the nature of relationships and the market structure. While some supply chain relationships are long term and collaborative (e.g. manufacturer and supplier developing a new material) there are also very many short term relationships. Participants with successful information exchange stated it took time to establish the flow of regulatory information. Their suppliers needed a lot of support to understand the information requests and what to provide in response (format, level of detail). In short term relationships there is less time for this learning. Second, the market is structured around very many small firms each with a low buying power. They have less pull with larger suppliers and lower possibility to have their requests for information fulfilled (beyond regulation).
Why toys? • the vulnerability of children to chemical exposures and health impacts • increased consumption of toys • the prevalence of imported toys with unknown material composition • use of toxic metals in toys • lack of information on hazards of toys • ineffective regulation on toy safety • reports that recalled toys may be sent to developing countries where there is little control , and • potential of recycling plastics with unknown content of hazardous substances (such as brominated flame-retardants). Since international press coverage of product recalls in 2007 due to non-compliance with regulations on chemical content public awareness has been growing. This growing awareness is reflected in EU market surveillance data. The RAPEX (Rapid Alert System for non-food consumer products)Report shows that toys were the most frequently notified product category at 28% of all notifications, with the two most important risks associated with toys being choking and too high levels of restricted chemical substances such as certain phthalates. On the other hand, NGOs note low consumer demand for information on chemicals in toys in some markets. They explain low awareness among consumers means consumers do not know what chemicals to ask for, but it does not mean that they are not interested.
The product group plastic toys was selected because it features a very complex supply chain on the one hand as well as encompasses many chemicals of concern. Furthermore, the product group plastic toys forms one of the major product groups in terms of sales volume. At the same time, we assume that market structures and product life cycles of plastic toy products do not vary in such a substantial way from other toy sub-groups that results cannot be transferred. Chemicals in Products -Toys Sector Case Study for UNEP
The global toy sector is characterized by thousands of small firms and only a few large players. The majority of the world’s toys are manufactured in China and the largest market for toys is the United States. The US, Europe and Japan have more regulations on toy safety than other countries and as they represent the largest markets, their regulations are referred to by global manufacturers. The exchange of CiP information among material suppliers, producers and retailers is linked to their size and buying power, but also the nature of relationships. Long-term relationships tend to favour more effective CiP information exchange. As is the case in many other sectors, product offerings change rapidly with the seasons and a wide variety of materials are used, including wood, polymers, metal, textiles, electronics, paints and coatings. Thus, the market is dynamic and diverse. Chemicals are added intentionally to convey certain functional properties to toys, and inadvertently as contaminants from processing. Chemicals are introduced during compounding, material conversion and painting, and may also be released as gaseous emissions, dust or spills. They are also released during use, where they may be ingested, inhaled or adsorbed via the skin.
Volumes and geography According to a study undertaken for the International Council of Toy Industries , the global toy market was valued at 78 billion USD in 2008 (down from 78.6 in 2007). Toys are manufactured globally but China is by far the biggest exporter of toys in the world. The United States, the world’s largest toy market, imports 89% of all toys sold and 76% of these were imported from China in 2006.2 For Europe, the world’s second largest market by region at over 23 billion, some 85% of toys on the market are produced in China.
Size of toy market (mil USD 2008)
Country share of toy market United States 21,510 26,8% Japan 5,820 7,2% China 4,954 6,2% United Kingdom 4,317 5,4% France 4,239 5,3% Germany 3,420 4,3% Brazil 2,773 3,5% India 2,091 2,6% Australia 1,881 2,3% Canada 1,872 2,3%
The Chinese toy manufacturing sector is of special relevance for the entire toy industry. According to a report by the European Commission from 2008 the Chinese toy sector consisted of 2700 companies at that time. The communication between China and their business partners in the rest of the world influences how information is exchanged in the toy sector. Relevant to this study, it is notable that after the toy recalls in 2007 the Chinese authorities invested in product safety measures. The Chinese government currently operates a system of toy export controls which according to the EC report is “by far the most elaborate in the world”. The former state owned chemical companies in China have now also joined the International Council of Chemical Associations and signed on to Responsible Care.
Courtesy :UN
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