Enveloped viruses like influenza can survive on plastic toys for up to 24 hours and increase a child's risk of infection, according to a study published in The Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal.
For the study, researchers contaminated a plastic toy with an enveloped virus to determine how long the germs could survive on such a surface.
The experiment was conducted in controlled humidity environments at 22 degrees Celsius at either 60 percent or 40 percent humidity. At 40 percent humidity, 0.01 percent of the viral particles initially planted could be detected on the toy 10 hours after contamination. At 60 percent humidity, 1 percent of the virus remained after a period of 24 hours.
"Children are vulnerable to contracting infectious disease because they put their hands and foreign objects in their mouths, and their immune systems aren't fully developed," said lead study author Richard Bearden II, a researcher from Georgia State University in Atlanta. "I think the main focus should be for parents, daycare facilities, doctor's offices and other places where children share toys to implement some type of strategy for decontamination to make sure those toys aren't a reservoir for disease."
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