Hazardous Chemicals Found in Plastic Products in Africa

Both the African environment and the human health of Africans suffer from toxic chemicals and imported wastes more than in developed countries. Africa has become the destination of illegal toxic waste exports and, as this study shows, toxic chemicals are also present in toys, kitchen utensils, and other consumer products sold at African markets.

Two hundred and forty-four samples of toys and other consumer products made of black plastic, from seven countries, were sampled for this study. Samples from Cameroon, Ethiopia, Gabon, Kenya, Morocco, Tanzania, and Tunisia were analyzed by X-ray fluorescence (XRF) and one-fifth of all 244 samples were sent for special chemical analysis, based on the total content of bromine and antimony, because bromine and antimony content is an indication that black plastic may contain brominated flame retardants (BFRs) (Petreas, Gill et al. 2016).