PLAY IT SAFE

India8217;s toy story is set here, in Delhi8217;s Sadar Bazar. As you walk through the market 8212; it supplies toys to the whole of North and Western India 8212; two things strike you: one, the resplendent reds, the sunshine oranges and the parrot greens. The other is the price, sometimes as little as Rs 10 for a toy.
This is where the toy story takes a macabre twist. The toys are foul-smelling, poor plastic replicas of pets, birds and human forms, sometimes bad imitations of fruits and cakes 8212; and they are all, without doubt, toxic. At least none of them has ever been checked for quality.
The issue came into focus a fortnight ago when international toy major Mattel Inc. recalled nearly 19 million toys worldwide sold under its Fisher Price brand. Apart from China, which accounts for 65 per cent of their manufacturing, Mattel has manufacturing plants in Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Mexico. Mattel recalled 2,000 toys from the Indian market from their Batman series.
Mattel acted fast but the Batman or Sesame Street series isn8217;t popular in India. Children make up 17 per cent of India8217;s population and most of them have toys sourced from unregulated markets and of unknown brands. Of the 20 per cent regulated toy markets, for which an invoice is created and the manufacturer8217;s address is given, Mattel has a 40 per cent market share, followed by Funskool.
The recall in India was in response to the furore in international markets. These companies can8217;t be accused of violating any standards in India simply because India has no enforceable standard for toys. The Bureau of Indian Standard BIS confirms that they have 8220;three booklets of voluntary standards8221; on different aspects of toy-making, but no company has ever come forward to register.
This is shocking considering the toy industry volume in India is estimated to be US 1 billion in the organised sector and about US 1.50 billion in the unorganised sector. There are more than 1,000 units in the small-scale sector. Yet, the per capita expenditure on toys in India is a mere 50 cents 8212; that8217;s the amount spent on manufacturing a toy 8212; compared to 34 per capita in the US.
There is another dichotomy: though traders admit that at least 70 per cent of toys in India are sourced from China, the website of Director General of Foreign Trade DGFT maintains that India exports more toys than it imports. As industry sources reveal, that8217;s because almost 50 per cent of the imported toys in the unorganised sector are sourced from illegal routes, mostly from China via Kathmandu.
So how hazardous are the toys that finally hit stores in India? The only study in India on toys was done by a Delhi-based NGO, Toxics Link, who collected toy samples from Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai. The study revealed high levels of lead and cadmium in all these toys.
Of the 111 toy samples tested, 88 were analysed for lead and cadmium. Both the chemicals were present in varying concentration in all the toys tested. The study concluded that even short-term exposure to such chemicals might cause severe and long-term impact on children8217;s health.
What makes these toys toxic? There are two ways that harmful chemicals enter the toys. One is from the bright paint that is used to colour the toys. Most colours are organo-metallic compounds and are added to toys during the last stage of manufacturing. 8220;Metals in paints are loosely bound to the surface and can leach easily. There are no standards for lead and cadmium in paint in India as yet. So the brighter a toy, the more dangerous it is,8217;8217; explains Abhay Kumar, the scientist who conducted the Toxics Link study.
The other is the PVC polyvinyl chloride, with its typical shower-curtain smell. Often, lead or cadmium is added to PVC as stabilisers. These stabilisers leak over time or in response to light or by chewing. So when children chew or suck on toys made of PVC, they are exposed to high levels of lead and cadmium.
There is no dearth of scientific evidence to show that lead is harmful for the human body. 8220;It is a known carcinogen and is difficult for us to fix a safe level of lead,8221; said B. Sengupta, member secretary, Central Pollution Control Board.

International standards
8220;There is no safe limit for toxic contents in toys. The entire issue of standards needs to be re-visited. No amount of lead or cadmium should be allowed in toys. Standards need to be made compulsory in order to make toy manufacturers strictly adhere to it,8217;8217; said Ravi Agarwal of Toxics Link.
Unfortunately, India does not have an enforceable standard for toys. The only time standards are enforced is when toys are exported to, say, the European Union or other countries and the exporters have to follow their safety requirements.
The big manufacturers claim they follow international standards. John Baby, CEO Funskool India Pvt, says, 8220;In India, BIS standards are not mandatory. But we adopt EN-71 European Standards that are internationally accepted8217;8217;
The issue blew up with the US government finding Mattel8217;s Chinese-made toys unacceptable with their high levels of lead in paint. 8220;It seems to be a slip as there are strict quality standards in place. In many production plants, a random check is undertaken where millions of units are produced in a day. In such a situation, a batch can sometimes go unchecked,8217;8217; said an industry source.