SUNS  4332 Thursday 26 November 1998



UNITED STATES: CALL FOR BAN ON TOXIC TOYS

Washington, Nov. 24 (IPS/Danielle Knight) -- A coalition of environmental and consumer organisations want the United States to follow the lead of several European nations and ban the sale of children's toys made out of vinyl, because of possible links to kidney and liver damage.

The groups, using newspaper advertisements and public announcements, are calling for the federal Consumer Product Safety Commission to prohibit the production of polyvinyl chloride (PVC or vinyl) toys that often end up in the mouths of babies and toddlers.

"This year, Denmark, Sweden and Austria banned the sale of some soft vinyl toys that contain hazardous additives," observes Greenpeace-USA. "While other countries such as Norway may soon follow suit, the U.S. government still allows toxic children's products, including teething
toys, pacifiers, rattles, bottle nipples and squeeze toys, to be marketed to children in America."

Instead of supporting the ban, the U.S. Commerce Department, has been lobbying to keep European markets open to vinyl toys, according to the coalition of more than 10 organisations. In response to the claims dozens of members of Congress recently sent a letter of protest to the
department demanding that, if such lobbying efforts are occurring, they should be stopped.

While scientists do not agree on whether toys made with vinyl are safe, environmental groups say toys made with PVC, a chemical used to soften plastic, when exposed to saliva can leach up to seven times the acceptable levels of toxic substances called phthalates, which include the chemical known as DINP. Phthalates have been linked to liver and kidney damage and possibly cancer, according to groups.
These chemicals are especially dangerous to children because do not stay stuck or bound to the plastic, says David Ozonoff, MD, MPH and Chair of the Department of Environmental Health at Boston University School of Public Health.

"The phthalates that make up so many common teething rings and plastic toys, are not bound to the plastic at all," he says. "So, when a child chews on the toy, the saliva wets the plastic so the phthalates leach out into the saliva and are ingested by the child."

Attorneys General in several U.S. states also are investigating whether PVC toys contain toxic levels of lead and cadmium.
"Though safer, alternative materials are available - including other plastics," says a statement by the coalition, which includes Physicians for Social Responsibility and the US Public Interest Research Group. Groups say toy companies favour using vinyl because it is cheap.

While several companies including Lego, IKEA and Nike have pledged to make all of their products PVC-free, other major toy manufacturers like Mattel, Hasbro, Warner Brothers and Disney say vinyl toys have not been proven to be unsafe.

"After exhaustively reviewing scientific studies conducted by industry and regulatory agencies as well as our own independent research, we have come to the conclusion that vinyl is safe in toys," says a statement released by Toy Manufacturers of America, an industry association.

"Greenpeace's allegation simply do not stand up to scientific scrutiny and only spread needless fears among parents of young children," it contends.

In September, California-based Mattel Inc. announced it was removing the phthalates only from toys intended for children's mouths, such as teething toys. Yet, health advocates say that this step ignores that young children put everything in their mouths, not just toys intended for sucking.

"Infants and toddlers don't distinguish between toys intended for the mouth and all other toys," says Philip Clapp, president of the Washington-based National Environmental Trust.

Several weeks ago, Canadian health officials joined the growing number of governments concerned about vinyl toys. Officials advised parents of small children to throw away vinyl teething toys and rattles because of possible adverse health affects.

"Parents or caregivers are advised to watch their children's use of other small, soft vinyl toys not specifically designed for sucking and chewing but often found in cribs or playpens and to remove these
products from the child's environment if they observe that the child is sucking or chewing them for extended periods," says the Canadian advisory.

While Austria, Denmark, and Sweden have banned the use of phthalate additives in PVC baby toys, voluntary withdrawals from store shelves have been requested by government health officials in Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. Spain also has requested consideration of Europe-wide restrictions on such toys.

Yet U.S. Commerce Department memos, obtained by environmental groups, show that Mattel and Exxon pressured the Clinton Administration to derail any European restrictions on soft vinyl toys, says Clapp.

A letter from Mattel even praised the Department of Commerce for "helping the U.S. toy industry defend against the recent EU initiatives to ban the use of polyvinyl chloride in toys," according to Greenpeace.

"Commerce and State Department officials embarked on a crusade to protect the continued sale of the these products in at least 18 foreign nations," says the group.

As a result of U.S. lobbying efforts, the European-wide restrictions were postponed and are currently being considered by individual countries, according to the coalition demanding the ban. The Commerce Department and Mattel did not answer an IPS reporter's request for comment.

"What must worry lobbyists for toy manufacturers is that if Europe bans these chemicals, the U.S. public will demand the same safety standards," says a statement released by the coalition that wants a ban imposed. The groups demanded an answer from the U.S. administration on why it "is protecting toy companies rather than the children who play with their products?"