Survey of chemical substances in consumer products No. 181, 2020
The survey in this project focused on the content of preservatives not regulated in slime toys marketed to children over three years of age. Compliance with regulations regarding the migration of boron and other elements from the slime toys studied was also tested. In addition, the toy sector industry were questioned regarding the use of fragrances in slime; however, because relatively few slime toys (particularly those marketed in Denmark and the EU) were marketed as scented, and due to the analytical challenges posed by fragrances, it was decided to focus on preservatives.
A total of 27 individual slime toy products were purchased, and analyzed amongst other for boron, phenoxyethanol, isothiazolinones (MI, CMI and BIT) and parabens.
The inspection part of the project identified boron migration levels between 116 and 4275 mg/kg in all 27 of the slime products studied. For comparison, the limit value is 300 mg/kg. 13 of the 27 slime products studied did not comply with legislation, with a distribution of eight out of the nine products purchased outside the EU, one of the four products purchased within the EU (excluding Denmark), and four of the 14 products purchased in Denmark. Apart from two additional prod-ucts, these are the same products considered to constitute a risk due to their MI and/or Kathon content. The results clearly show that more products purchased outside the EU may pose a health risk than products purchased within the EU.