Plasticizer migration from children's toys, child care articles, art materials, and school supplies.
Level 5 - mechanism / opinion, no new human data
Benchtop product testing and exposure modeling without direct human clinical data; Level 5 by design analogy.
PubMed 31917999 · doi:10.1016/j.yrtph.2019.104574
What was done
Staff from the Consumer Product Safety Commission purchased 63 children's products comprising 129 individual pieces in 2008. Polymer types were identified using Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). In the 38 pieces identified as polyvinyl chloride (PVC), specific plasticizers were identified and migration rates were measured using the Joint Research Centre method. The authors then combined these migration rates with mouthing duration data to model children's exposure and estimate margins of exposure.
What was found
Among the 38 PVC articles, the identified plasticizers included acetyltributyl citrate (ATBC) (20), di(2-ethylhexyl) terephthalate (DEHT) (14), 1,2-cyclohexanedicarboxylic acid diisononyl ester (DINX) (13), 2,2,4-trimethyl-1,3-pentanediol diisobutyrate (TPIB) (9), di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP) (1), and diisononyl phthalate (DINP) (1). Half of the articles contained multiple plasticizers. Migration rates correlated roughly with plasticizer concentration and inversely with molecular mass. All estimated margins of exposure were >1,000.
Why it matters
Following regulatory restrictions on traditional phthalates, manufacturers shifted to substitute plasticizers; this study provides quantitative evidence that oral exposure to these alternatives from children's PVC items poses a low potential risk.
Limits
The samples were purchased in 2008 and may not reflect current market compositions or newer alternatives. The sample size was limited to 63 products (38 PVC articles). The risk assessment relies on simulated in vitro migration and exposure modeling rather than human biomonitoring, and it does not account for cumulative exposure from other consumer products or non-oral routes.
Cited by
- supports The Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 banned phthalates from children's toys in the United States.