Lead could be used in two aspects in cheap playground manufacturing to keep costs low.
Paint: Lead may be found in the paint on metal parts on the playground systems. Lead was banned in house paint, on products marketed to children, and in dishes or cookware in the United States in 1978. But it is still widely used in other countries and therefore can still be found in parts of playground systems and even toys.
Plastic: The use of lead is found in cheap / Recycled plastics and is used basically as a stabiliser and also to build volume. When the plastic is exposed to sunlight, air, and detergents the chemical bond between the lead and plastics breaks down and forms dust.
How your child may be exposedLead is invisible to the naked eye and has no smell. Children may be exposed to it through normal hand-to-mouth activity, which is part of their normal development.
How to test for leadOnly a certified laboratory can accurately test a toy or a playground component for lead. Although do-it-yourself kits are available, they do not show how much lead is present and their reliability at detecting low levels of lead has not been determined.
What to do if you are concerned about your child’s exposureInsist on using products from reputed brands that have their products tested and certified by notified bodies, such brands and manufacturers have to first provide test certificates of all the raw materials used (and also provide further batch samples) to ensure that lead contents are at permissible limits failing which they will not receive the safety certification. The most prevalent safety certification accepted across the world is the EN1176 standard while in the US the ASTM prevails.
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