Some of the eraser samples from this survey. The figures in this article are all provided by the respondents
After the epidemic, schools have opened one after another in various places. Many primary and secondary school students have bought new stationery, and some parents have asked, are they safe?
On April 15, an environmental organization released an investigation report saying that 62 kinds of erasers sold on the market were tested, of which 21 were detected as toxic plasticizers.
The plasticizer phthalate is also known as a "plasticizer". It is a chemical that can cause precocious puberty in children.
It is worth noting that the content limit standard of plasticizers in student stationery is lacking and the supervision is lacking. Since its promulgation in 2007, the mandatory national standard "General Requirements for the Safety of Student Supplies" (gb 21027-2007) does not have the limit requirements for toxic and harmful chemicals such as phthalate plasticizers and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons.
According to the "Eraser" group standard released by the China Stationery and Sports Industry Standardization Expert Committee in 2017, the phthalates in the 18 types of erasers sent for testing exceeded the standard, accounting for 29%; the highest exceeded the standard by 1080 times; it may pose a higher health risk to adolescents and children.
Eraser Buyer's Guide
On April 15, environmental protection ngo non-toxic pioneer (full name Shenzhen Zero Waste Environmental Protection Public Welfare Development Center) released the "Investigation of the Content of 86 Commercially Available Eraser Materials and Toxic Plasticizers".
The Beijing Municipal Education Commission WeChat public account "Capital Education" has released a message that minors ingesting phthalates will cause harm to the liver and kidneys, and may also lead to precocious puberty. Excessive intake of phthalates can also have adverse effects in adults. In the case of men, for example, it is possible to affect fertility. As for women, it is possible to increase the chances of breast cancer. If women are exposed or consume large amounts during childbirth, they can cause defects or other related diseases in the newborn.
Xu Shan, a pediatric surgery expert, said that international and domestic animal experiments have confirmed that long-term intake of plasticizers will cause an increase in the rate of external genital malformations and a decrease in reproductive capacity in test animals. Clinical big data analysis also shows that in recent years, the incidence of hypospadias in neonatal males has continued to increase, and the reproductive function of adult men has continued to decline, which is related to the continuous accumulation and intake of plasticizers in the environment. He called on the relevant state departments to formulate relevant laws and regulations as soon as possible to limit the use of phthalates and ensure the health of the people.
Non-toxic pioneer initiator Dr. Mao Da believes that the lack of standards plagues the industry to make changes, the latest mandatory national standard gb 21027-2007 "general requirements for the safety of student supplies" was formulated in 2007, has not been updated and revised so far, the current standard lack of clear provisions on chemical safety indicators, including the limit requirements for phthalate plasticizers, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and other toxic and harmful chemical substances; and most of the enterprises to implement the reference standard for the industry standard qb/t 2309-2010 "Eraser", but this industry standard does not cover the detection of chemicals such as phthalates.
Wen Ruihuan, project director of non-toxic pioneers, said that all the rubber samples detected or exceeded the standard of phthalates are all PVC materials, indicating that the purchase of PVC erasers has a higher risk of exposure to toxic plasticizers than non-PVC erasers; whether it is the product itself or the e-commerce platform, the effective disclosure rate of the material and chemical use information of the eraser samples is less than 30%, indicating that overall, consumers' right to know the quality and safety of the eraser products is not guaranteed The current national standards or industry recommendation standards on erasers have serious deficiencies in the control of toxic plasticizers, making it impossible for such products to get rid of the contamination of phthalates, chemicals with high environmental health risks.
Non-toxic pioneers gave suggestions in the report, calling on consumers, stationery manufacturers, the National Professional Standardization Technical Committee, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, e-commerce platforms and other parties to pay attention to the quality and safety of student school supplies, and jointly promote the improvement of eraser safety standards to better protect the healthy growth of adolescents and children.
The report shows that the rubber wiper samples collected in the survey came from online purchases on e-commerce platforms and on-site purchases in offline physical stores, with a total of 86 kinds, of which 62 were sent to third-party laboratories with corresponding qualifications to test the content of 6 phthalates.