The study will be conducted by an expert committee under Dr Y K Gupta, Professor of bio-chemistry at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences.

The committee has been constituted by the Union Health Ministry to look into the presence of harmful elements in toys, Minister of State for Health S Gandhiselvan said in a written reply in the Lok Sabha.

NGO Toxics Link had conducted a study in 2006 in Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai and reported presence of high levels of cadmium and lead in poly-vinyle chloride used in soft toys.

Under the guidance of the committee, a study for examining the presence of some heavy metals and phthalates in the plastic toys in the market is underway.