近日正值西方國家年節採購旺季，美國獨立機構檢測了1500多種兒童玩具，結果發現這些玩具中有1/3含有中高濃度的化合物，這些化合物包括鉛、水銀、鎘（cadmium）及砷（arsenic）。
以密西根州為基地的非營利組織「生態學中心（Ecology Center）」，進行與生育問題、發育、學習障礙、賀爾蒙問題及癌症有關的化學物質檢測；他們同時也檢測那些正規部門認為會造成問題的化學物質。
這項檢測是用手提式X射線螢光分析儀（X-Ray Fluorescence analyzer）的篩選技術所進行的，這種分析儀可以鑑定產品表面的化學物質元素組成。
生態學中心和其全美的伙伴在12月3日發表有關玩具有毒化學物質的第二本年度消費者指南，這個指南可以透過www.HealthyToys.org網站進行瀏覽。
這些環境健康團體在全美進行這個玩具檢測行動，並且呼籲廠商及美國聯邦政府，立即開始淘汰這些最有傷害性的化學物質。
主持這個計畫的生態學中心成員基爾哈特（Jeff Gearhart）表示：「兒童的玩具裡根本不應該含有毒化學物質，我們希望透過讓消費者知道相關訊息，使製造商及法律制訂者感受到必須立即開始淘汰這些最具傷害性的化學物質的壓力，並且改變國家的法律來保護兒童免於高毒性化學物質的傷害。」
在2008年受檢測的玩具中有20%被檢測出含鉛，而有54件商品的鉛含量遠超過600ppm的含鉛漆料聯邦回收標準（federal recall standard），並且依據新的消費者產品安全委員會（Consumer Product Safety Commission）法規，測出的濃度也將會在2009年2月起超過美國聯邦法定標準。
如果這個新法規12月3日就開始生效，在這個佳節期間，一些架上的玩具就會變為非法販售。然而，當兒童曝露在含鉛物質下，其對發育及神經系統的因果效應會是無法挽回的。許多受測玩具中鉛含量已超過美國小兒科醫學期刊中所建議的40 ppm的兒童玩具鉛含量上限。
兒童的首飾持續2年成為受污染最嚴重的產品類別，其在健康玩具網站（HealthyToys.org）中所列的最毒產品清單中名列前茅。這個研究發現，整體而言，首飾中檢測出的鉛含量大約是其他玩具產品鉛含量的2倍。
有很多迪士尼公司漢娜蒙塔娜廠牌（Hannah Montana）的受檢兒童飾品中含有很高的鉛含量。健康玩具網站建議消費者要避免購買低價的兒童首飾。
健康玩具網站提供依據產品名稱、品牌或是玩具類型查詢玩具是否含有毒化學物質的功能。這個新改版的網站也讓瀏覽者可以自製個人化的佳節祝福，傳送給家人與朋友，同時也提供一個用部落格方式呈現且操作方便的工具介面（widget），讓使用者可以很快地查詢玩具的等級。
One in every three of the more than 1,500 children's toys tested in time for the holiday shopping season have been found to contain "medium" or "high" levels of chemicals of concern such as lead, mercury, cadmium and arsenic.
Researchers with the Michigan-based nonprofit Ecology Center tested for chemicals that have been associated with reproductive problems, developmental and learning disabilities, hormone problems and cancer; and for those identified by regulatory agencies as problematic.
The testing was conducted with a screening technology - the portable X-Ray Fluorescence analyzer - that identifies the elemental composition of materials on or near the surface of products.
The Ecology Center and partners across the country today released their second annual consumer guide to toxic chemicals in toys, which can be found online at www.HealthyToys.org.
Environmental health groups are holding toy testing events nationwide and urging manufacturers and the federal government to phase out the most harmful chemicals at once.
"There is simply no place for toxic chemicals in children's toys," said Ecology Center's Jeff Gearhart, who led the research.
"Our hope is that by empowering consumers with this information, manufacturers and lawmakers will feel the pressure to start phasing out the most harmful substances immediately, and to change the nation's laws to protect children from highly toxic chemicals," he said.
Lead was detected in 20 percent of the toys tested this year. Lead levels in 54 products were well above the 600 parts per million federal recall standard used for lead paint, and will exceed the U.S. legal limit in February, according to the new Consumer Product Safety Commission regulations.
If the new regulations were in effect today, some of the toys on the shelf this holiday season would be illegal to sell. When children are exposed to lead, the developmental and nervous system consequences are irreversible.
Levels of lead in many of the toys tested were above the American Academy of Pediatrics recommended ceiling of 40 ppm of lead in children's products.
Children's jewelry remains the most contaminated product category, maintaining its spot at the top of HealthyToys.org's "worst" list for a second year.
Overall, jewelry is twice as likely to contain detectable levels of lead as other products, the researchers found.
Numerous Hannah Montana brand jewelry items tested high for lead. HealthyToys.org recommends that consumers avoid low cost children's jewelry.
The website allows searches by product name, brand, or toy type to see if certain toys have toxic chemicals. The newly-redesigned site also lets visitors create a personalized holiday wish list that can be sent to family and friends, and a blog-friendly widget to quickly search the toy ratings.
作者
In my healing journey and learning to attain the breath awareness, I become aware of the reality that all the creatures of the world are breathing the same breath. Take action, here and now. From my physical being to the every corner of this out of balance's planet.
