Beijing’s Toxic Toys: Dangerous Heavy Metals in Children’s Products

After reading the online warning of a Beijing mom who found balloons in Sanlitun containing flammable gases instead of helium, I decided to look further into the issue of toy safety in China. Countless products manufactured here are exported to toy stores around the world, but how certain can parents be that those for sale in Beijing meet international safety standards?

I soon found myself on a path to some shocking discoveries, at the center of which was a website set up by the International POPs Elimination Network (IPEN), a collective of environmental and health NGOs. Its online database reveals a host of seemingly innocuous toys and school supplies available in China containing worrying levels of heavy metals. Users can browse the potentially harmful children’s products (as well as cosmetics and household goods), many of which can be found in popular markets and supermarkets here in the capital.

Continue reading at beijing-kids.com