Geetika Pokhriyal, New Delhi: If you're a parent, you're bound to be worried by reports of toy maker Mattel recalling millions of toys, because they could be poisonous. What can you do as a parent?

Toys are little one’s best friends. Baby Vedica wakes up in their company, plays with them all day long and goes to bed with them. It never crossed her mother's mind it could be a health hazard.

Not until the Chinese toy maker company Mattel recalled some of its toys citing presence of toxic chemicals like lead and chromium in them. Her mother who takes pains to give the best of stuff to her loved one is now worried.

"The child chews the toys, takes them in her mouth. Now that I know some of these toys may be toxic, I’m concerned about my child. What should I do? Who is to be blamed here? Is it the government or the toy manufacturers?," said Deepti, mother of a nine-months-old baby.

Toys are a $1 billion industry in India but such a lucrative industry surprisingly has no code to adhere to, say experts. The international code set by the regulatory authorities is 600 ppm of lead. But there is practically no toy company that cares to adhere to the code.

Also Read: Kids Toys by Mattel Unsafe

"The Indian government hasn't set up any standards. The bureau of Indian standards has a voluntary code but I’m not sure whether there is even a single manufacturer who complies with that," said Ravi Agarwal who runs an NGO.

Toxics link tested 111 samples of toys from around India. All were from the unorganized sector. The study reveals some shocking levels of lead and cadmium.

The samples from Delhi had 27 ppm of lead and the cadmium levels were sky high. Chennai had the lowest levels in the country while Mumbai has the highest.

"In growing children up to the age of 6, it can seriously retard your mental growth. And later on it gets absorbed by the body, creates other dysfunctions like your ability to concentrate, it can go in the kidney and the liver and cause serious damage. Depends upon how acute the poisoning is," said Ravi Agarwal.

The toy companies insist that the toys in circulation in India are entirely safe. "If the government makes it mandatory we will take it. Our toys are safe, we know it. There is not a problem at all," said Toy Association of India President Paresh Aggarwal.

There are 30 million children below the age of 6 susceptible to lead and cadmium contamination across the world. With a large sector of the Indian toy market being unregulated, its time the people wake up and urge the government to put a regulatory mechanism in place.