Your Old Legos Can Be Toxic
It’s a touching idea to get your favorite old Lego basket that you played with as a child and pass it on to your kids so they can experience the same magic. But it’s probably safer to find a newer set. Scientists from England tested 200 used plastic toys for nine hazardous elements and found that 10% contain traces of all of them .
One toy to look out for? “70s and 80s Lego bricks are a big flop,” Andrew Turner, lead researcher on the study, told the BBC .
Turner and his team at the University of Plymouth used X-ray fluorescence technology to test toys they found in homes, kindergartens and thrift stores. They tested the content of arsenic, barium, cadmium, chromium, mercury, lead, antimony, selenium and bromine. Older toys containing the most dangerous elements were building blocks, plastic figurines, construction toys, games, puzzles, and play decorations. The levels were lower for balls, marbles, yoyos, tools, letters, model cars, model trains, and bath toys. The researchers also analyzed 26 toys in a simulated stomach, trying to figure out what would happen if children chewed on them.
Based on the results published in the journal Environmental Science and Technology , parents should be wary of old plastic toys in bright colors that stay bright for a very long time, especially reds and yellows. The cadmium released from old yellow and red Lego bricks exceeds the limits set by the European Toy Safety Directive, introduced in 2009.
It is unclear exactly what year Lego removed the toxic metallic cadmium from its bricks. Lego historian Gary Istok, who produced the documentary The Unofficial Collector’s Guide for LEGO Sets / Parts , wrote that by the 1980s, all Lego bricks were cadmium-free . Roar Rud Trangbeck, a Lego spokesman, told The Sun that regarding hazardous elements, the company “phased out this material from 1979 to 1981.”
American researchers have also found heavy metals in antique plastic toys in the past, so it’s probably best not to raid your mom’s loft looking for things your kids can play with, especially if you have kids who might put toys in theirs. toys. mouths.