Experts from the National Institute of Occupational Health (NIOH), Ahmedabad; National Institute of Nutrition (NIN), Hyderabad and the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi, will soon screen Indian and foreign toys available in the market for toxicity levels.

The exercise comes in the wake of the Supreme Court taking interest in ascertaining the level of pigments used for coating these toys.

According to experts, most Chinese toys as also those manufactured in India are coated with heavy metals such as lead and cadmium, which can be poisonous and can have cognitive impact on the human brain.

NIN officials said Chinese toys were banned, but after Chinese companies approached the International Court of Justice to lift the ban, the Supreme Court has taken interest in the issue.

NIOH and NIN have now initiated the process to test the toys under Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) guidelines.

Two principal investigators have been selected for this purpose —NIOH Director P K Nag and NIN Scientist B Dinesh.

NIOH sources said they have begun collecting toys from all the metropolitan cities in India, including Ahmedabad. The samples will be analyzed on the basis of their cost, market (rural or urban) and whether it is for boys or girls.

Nag said: “Nothing can be commented as of now about our project; it requires very accurate analysis. There will be a big storage room at Gujarat where thousands of Chinese and local toys will be collected.”

Dinesh said: “At present, we are collecting toys from Mumbai; the study will take at least two years. After the study we will be able to comment on the issue.”

... contd.