Information

November 1998

Lead and cadmium

What are the health concerns related to lead and cadmium?
Both lead and cadmium are toxic substances that are hazardous to the health and safety of children. Lead is especially hazardous to children's health. The latest medical and scientific research has shown that exposure to even very low levels of lead may have harmful effects on the intellectual and behavioural development of infants and young children. The international standard for the allowable amount of releasable lead in children's toys is 90 ppm and 75 ppm for cadmium. Any level of lead above this is considered dangerous.

What is the connection between Health Canada's Advisory on soft vinyl PVC products for very young children and the issue of lead and cadmium?
Health Canada's Advisory is concerned with soft vinyl PVC toys that could be sucked or chewed on by a very young child for prolonged periods of time on a daily basis, thereby exposing the child to the plasticizer DINP. Lead and Cadmium, if they were present in the toy, would potentially also be extracted by the motion of sucking or chewing. However, like DINP, the risk cannot be measured simply by the amount of lead in the toy. A specific test must be done to determine the amount of releasable lead, or the amount of lead that could come out of a toy if a child sucks or chews on it. Greenpeace claims that since very young children are being exposed to high levels of DINP by sucking or chewing on the toys for prolonged periods of time, then they must also be exposed to amounts of lead and cadmium that exceed the standard levels.

What is the basis for the limits of 90 ppm of extractable lead and 75ppm of extractable cadmium?
These limits are set by the European Standard EN-71 which is used worldwide and is based on the lead and cadmium that may be soluble in gastric juice and available for entering into the blood stream.

Why isn't Health Canada alerting Canadians about PVC toys containing lead and cadmium?
In 1996, Health Canada completed testing on numerous soft vinyl (PVC) products, including children's toys and garments. While some of these tested products were found to contain lead, the vast majority of the tested products were found not to have extractable lead that exceeded the international standard of 90 ppm. Since these tested products did not exceed the 90 ppm limit of extractable lead, it was concluded that the overall risk to children from these products is negligible. Since then, Health Canada has continued to monitor soft vinyl products for lead and cadmium.

If my child's toy is made of PVC, will it have lead in it?
Some toys made of vinyl plastic have a level of lead in them, which in most cases is not releasable, and is therefore of no concern. Health Canada has conducted several investigations on the levels of lead and cadmium in children's toys, most notably in 1996. These investigations indicated that very few children's products made from vinyl (PVC) plastic contain significant amounts of releasable lead.

What is Health Canada doing to ensure there is no lead in children's toys?
It has been a long standing Health Canada policy to reduce the exposure of children to lead and cadmium, particularly in children's products. In light of this policy, Health Canada initiated its Strategy for Reducing Lead (May, 1997) as a preventative measure to reduce the exposure of children to lead in children's and other consumer products. Health Canada continues to investigate toys and products that are brought to the attention of the Department as being potentially dangerous, to ensure the safety and well being of all Canadians.

What would Health Canada do if it evaluated a toy and found that it had high levels of releasable lead?
Health Canada would take appropriate actions to ensure the product was removed from market and the public would be informed of these actions.