What Kind of Plastic Is Used for Refrigerator Letter Magnets?

Harmful Plastics

• PVC, also known as vinyl, is often manufactured with toxic chemicals and can be found in some brands of alphabetic refrigerator magnets. Lead and cadmium are often added to PVC to add rigidity to magnets and plastic toys. Children that chew or suck on these products can absorb some of these toxic chemicals, which may be linked to cancer and reproductive problems. The chemicals easily leach out from such plastic toys and may interfere with hormonal and reproductive development.

Safe Plastics

• Numerous types of safe plastics and innovative bioplastics exist that offer a safe alternative to PVC. Polyethylene is a harmless alternative that composes many PVC-free brands of alphabetic refrigerator magnets. It's a heavy and durable type of plastic and does not require the addition of heavy metals. Other safe alternatives to PVC include polypropylene, EVA, EPM, EPDM and bio-based materials.

Foam Magnets

• Refrigerator letter magnets with a foam type of construction may be composed of ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA). EVA foam is a plastic-like material made of blended copolymers, a safe alternative to PVC. It has the added benefits of buoyancy and insulation. Though such toys are soft and chewable to teething children, EVA does not contain harmful substances.

Manufacturer Guidelines

• Many toy companies are committed to producing PVC-free toys and will openly advertise a PVC-free product. Do some research on the manufacturer and the product specifications to determine if a specific product is safe for your children. Toy companies such as Early Start, Little Tikes and Lego are committed to PVC-free manufacturing in general. Toys R Us and Small World Toys do not produce teething toys with PVC in them. But you should always look into the specifics of a product to determine its safety and the composition of additional chemicals that may be contained in them.