VietNamNet Bridge – Randomly checking toys products in some wholesale toy stores in HCM City, the authorities have detected toxic chemicals that can cause cancer, infertility and affect the brain.

To ensure that children's toys are safe for health and stabilize the market during the upcoming lunar New Year, HCM City authorities collected some toy samples for quality testing.

Test results at the Center for Quality Standardization--Measurement 3 shows that a sample of made-in-China plastic balls contains high levels of phthalates (the substance causes cancer, affects the brain and even causes infertility), which exceeded the permitted level by 400 times.

In addition, the Product Quality Management Agency also announced that two samples of dolls, which were taken at random in toy stores in Hanoi, contain high levels of phthalate.

The HCM City authorities have immediately checked the quality of these kinds of dolls in the city.

To date, at least four toy products sourced from China have been found with high levels of phthalates, including: plastic animals, toy car using battery, dolls with fruit-shaped heads and plastic balls.

According to the HCM City Institute for Chemical Research, toys with sharp colors are more potentially harmful because these colors are created by industrial coloring substances, which are made from toxic chemicals such as chromium, lead, mercury...

In HCM City, most toys have a "vague" source of origin or they are made-in-China products, with eye-catching colors and very cheap prices.

"Kids just like the colors of these toys so they ask their parents to buy. The prices of these toys are also affordable so many people buy them," said a woman from Tan Binh District.

The HCM City Market Control Department has asked its staff to check toy stores to seize the above toys.

P. Linh