The leaching of cadmium from plastic toys

A systematic examination has been made of the factors that influence the leaching of cadmium from solid ABS (acrylonitrile-butadiene-polystyrene) plastic toys containing cadmium sulphide or selenide pigments, and realistic test procedures have been developed that give reproducible results. It has been shown that in the absence of light less than 100 ppm of cadmium is extracted from the pigmented plastic used for toys on sale in the United Kingdom.