Senate resolution seeks probe on hazardous toys

Sen. Manuel Villar has a filed a resolution seeking an inquiry into the alleged proliferation of toys with toxic and hazardous substances in the Philippine market. "The government should look into the importation of these harmful and toxic toys and establish stricter measures to prevent its entry into the country, formulating and executing policies in order to confiscate those which have already infiltrated our local markets, and create a framework to address and cure the ill-effects of these toxic toys to our children," Villar said in Senate Resolution 560.. In filing the resolution, Villar said noted that scientists from the International POPS Elimination Network randomly picked toys from malls and stalls in Davao City and found that some imported toys contained toxic elements like lead and cadmium. "Out of the 135 toys sampled, 22 were found to contain different toxic heavy metals like cadmium, chromium, mercury, lead, arsenic, antimony and others," he said. He said that many of the toys were made in China while the others were made in Korea, Thailand, and the United States. Villar quoted Dr. Romy Quijano, a toxicologist from the University of the Philippines, who said that lead, mercury and other heavy metals in toys can cause brain damage and other serious illnesses in children. "Children are still vulnerable to objects containing lead even without physical contact because the poison can mix with particles in the air," he said. The senator also said said that some toys with Phthalates, a group of chemical compounds typically added to plastics to increase their softness and flexibility, may cause infertility in boys. On the other hand, the chemical Bisphenol A, a building block for polycarbonate plastic commonly used in plastic products such as shatter-resistant baby bottles, may be linked to increased breast and prostate cancer cell growth. But Villar stressed that the problem "is not only confined to the Davao City locality but is a national and global consumer issue." He cited a study by the Michigan-based consumer safety organization Ecology Center which says that in the US, 1,500 popular children's toys contained "potentially harmful" levels of lead, arsenic, mercury, and other dangerous chemicals. — Kim Tan/RSJ, GMA News