Blog
Protect Kids from Toxic Toys
Healthy Child
Thursday, September 20, 2007
By Harvey Karp and Rachel Gibson
September 20, 2007
Exposure to tiny amounts of phthalates, found in many toys, can harm children; California should ban them.
Rubber duckies are great -- unless they're the kind that are loaded with chemicals called phthalates. These softening agents can make up 50% of the plastic in toys children love to stick in their mouths. The trouble is, these unhealthy chemicals don't stay in the toy's plastic. They get chewed and sucked right out, just like the flavoring of bubble gum.
The vast majority of chemicals used in consumer products have never been tested for their effects on human health. In criminal courts, suspects are innocent until proved guilty. When it comes to protecting our children, a reverse standard should apply: Chemicals should be guilty until proved innocent. And when it comes to phthalates, innocence is far from established.
Phthalates are a family of chemicals that are put into plastic products -- including toys, teething rings and rattles -- to make them soft and pliable. Yet phthalates pose a particular health risk to infants and young children. Kids' curiosity makes them put everything in their mouths -- virtually guaranteeing exposure to phthalates -- but their bodies are less able to detoxify themselves. And as their organs develop, they pass through windows of vulnerability when even tiny doses of these toxic chemicals can have extra-harmful effects.
One scientific study after another has shown that minuscule doses of phthalates -- doses that previously were assumed safe -- can disrupt the hormonal balance of developing children, potentially causing serious, lifelong effects. Researchers have linked phthalates to early puberty in girls, reproductive problems, abnormalities of the penis, impaired sperm, liver and thyroid damage and testicular cancer. In fact, California has put several types of phthalates on its list of reproductive and developmental toxicants that, under certain conditions, require consumer warnings.
The timing of the exposure to these hormone-twisting chemicals during early stages of development matters as much, if not more, than the dose. Unfortunately, a 2005 study by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showed nearly all children already have unhealthy levels of phthalates in their bodies.
The good news is that there are safe, economical replacements for phthalates. The European Union and 14 other countries have banned or restricted the use of phthalates in children's products. In the U.S., several leading toy manufacturers also have restricted their use of phthalates over the last few years as a result of research confirming health concerns. However, the vast majority of children's products available in the U.S. still contain phthalates.
With available alternatives, why are toy companies unnecessarily exposing children to toxic chemicals? Because current law allows them to.
Now, after a decade of worrisome research and foot-dragging by the chemical industry, California is poised to give its kids the same protection as those living abroad. Earlier this month, the Legislature passed Assembly Bill 1108, which would ban six phthalates from children's toys, teethers and feeding products. It is a modest but important step to protect our children. The bill is on Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's desk, and all he needs to do to protect kids is to sign it.
Chemical industry lobbyists are putting enormous pressure on the governor to veto this bill. But ask any parent and their perspective is clear: If a chemical is toxic, it simply doesn't belong in a teether or toy. Period.
As California goes, so goes the nation. In 2003, the state banned two toxic flame retardants known to cause developmental and learning disabilities. The primary manufacturer of those chemicals immediately announced it would stop producing and selling them nationwide. Likewise, toy makers say that if AB 1108 becomes law, they will reformulate all the toys they sell in this country.
If the governor wants California to lead the way in environmental health policies, he should sign AB 1108. We must stop playing games with our children's health.
Harvey Karp is a pediatrician and author of "The Happiest Baby on the Block." Rachel Gibson is a staff attorney with Environment California, a supporter of AB 1108.
Posted by AJ on 11/27/2007 at 10:07 PM
Mark Schapiro, Exposing a Toxic U.S. Policy
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=16616951
Fresh Air from WHYY, November 26, 2007 · Investigative reporter Mark Schapiro explains in a new book that toxic chemicals exist in many of the products we handle every day — agents that can cause cancer, genetic damage and birth defects, lacing everything from our gadgets to our toys to our beauty products.
And unlike the European Union, the U.S. doesn’t require businesses to minimize them — or even to list them, so consumers can evaluate the risks. Schapiro argues that that policy isn’t just bad for public health: In an increasingly green economy, he says, American businesses stand to get shut out of a huge market.
Schapiro, editorial director of the nonprofit Center for Investigative Reporting, has written for Harper’s, The Nation, Mother Jones and The Atlantic Monthly. His book is called Exposed: The Toxic Chemistry of Everyday Products, and What’s at Stake for American Power.
Posted by Lisa on 11/05/2007 at 09:30 AM
As a new Mom I was appauled by all these problems and recalls for children’s toys, so i started to do some research and found a company whose #1 priorty is safety as well as quality and education. There products are tested 3 times by an outside lab then once again upon returning to them before they are sold to anyone. So I started reading up on their company and became a part of it, to be able to share it with my friends. Check it out for yourself www.DiscoveryToysLink.com/LisaRyan
More comments:
Get Answers
View All
Read and Learn
It's the trusted guidebook for the Next Generation of Parenting "...that every single parent needs to read..."
PICK UP A COPY
Now In Paperback!
Archives by Month
What We Read
Posted by jen on 12/26/2007 at 07:38 PM
This is amazing! I started developing at the age of 7. i had to undergo numerous tests and drugs to stop puberty. It stunted my height and I have had numerous complications eversense including hyperactive immune system, CFF, sinusitus, surgery, endometriosis, etc. Both of my two babies are now following in their mother’s footsteps and I will be damned if they go through what I have! Funny thing, my father use to be in the chemical business and is now in the food industry. I have seen first hand what we are exposing ourselves to and I immediately switched our family to all organic with much improvement. I have a degree in political science and wanted to make politics my career until I realized how twisted and greedy our government is! I am a republican, however I am disgusted to call myself an american when we as a people allow our government to pollute and kill our child with these poisons!!!!!!