A large part of the toys sold in Moldova contain heavy metals that exceed the norms several times. Moreover, 90% of the toys are sold without label, without authorization and without documents of origin. These are the results of examinations performed recently, which were made public in a news conference a IPN.
Alexandru Slusari, chairman of the National Union of Agricultural Producers Associations “UniAgroProtect”, said that a Chemical Security Week was launched in Moldova to inform society about the benefits and risks of using chemical products. Within the project “Strengthening civil society capacity for implementing the Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management in Moldova”, there were examined dairy products, hen eggs, vegetables and fish to determine their content of chemical substances. The results showed that most of the samples didn’t exceed the admissible concentrations.
According to Alexandru Slusari, when examining carp older than 10 years (about 10 kg), it was established that the content of heavy metals exceeded significantly the norm. The tested agricultural products turned out to be inoffensive.
Minister of the Environment Gheorghe Salaru told the journalists that within the project they tested 57 toys sold on the home market. The concentration of metals in 17 toys exceeded the admissible levels, while in 10 toys was tens or even hundreds of times higher than allowed. The inoffensiveness of toys does not always depend on the price and place where they are made.
The official said the examinations showed that the people do not know the chemical security norms. A guidebook was compiled within the project to inform the people about chemical security.
Tatiana Tugui, project coordinator at “UniAgroProtect”, said the toys were tested not in Moldova as we do not have the necessary equipment, but in the Philippines. Furthermore, the people until now didn’t even think about the offensiveness or inoffensiveness of toys.
After the Chemical Security Week is over, there will be proposed solutions for improving the situation as regards the use of chemicals.
