The Child Safety Task Force, a non-profit advocacy alliance for children’s safety, sent a letter to the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CSPC) this week, posing additional questions that the CPSC must address before implementing the recently-passed Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA). The CPSC requested public comments before the Chronic Hazard Advisory Panel (CHAP) convenes in early February.
“This CHAP will be charged with investigating the safety of phthalates – chemicals used to make plastics soft and flexible,” said Bob Johnson, President of the Child Safety Task Force. “But there has been little or no discussion about the chemicals which may be used as replacements. A ban, even a temporary or speculative ban, on high molecular weight phthalates will cause manufacturers to use alternatives, which have not been tested for use in toys.”
The CSPIA addresses this loophole, requiring the CHAP to review all alternative plasticizers, none of which have been evaluated for use in toys by a government agency. A scientific review will provide the basis that consumers expect from their government – a determination of which toys are safe, regardless of their ingredients. In its letter, Child Safety Task Force urged the commission to move forward with the testing of alternatives, and investigate the potential safety concerns of removing plasticizers altogether. The Task Force expressed concern and encouraged caution regarding bans prompted by political pressure, rather than science.
The CPSIA, passed by Congress in 2008, banned low molecular weight phthalates, and placed a temporary prohibition on high molecular weight phthalates, DINP, DnOP, and DIDP, pending further review by the CHAP. The CPSC’s previous CHAP on DINP concluded that there were “no demonstrated health risks” from DINP in children’s toys, and that there is “no justification” for banning its use. Scientists for The European Union, National Institutes of Health, and Centers for Disease control have reached similar conclusions about the safety of high molecular weight phthalates. In 2004, CPSC staff warned “if DINP is to be replaced in children’s products … the potential risks of the substitutes must be considered. Weaker or more brittle plastics might break and result in a choking hazard.”
“Safety concerns that will result from replacing phthalates in children’s products should be considered by the panel,” said Bob Johnson in the letter, “as should the status of research available on phthalates alternatives. It is imperative that the CHAP have a well-rounded approach in considering the effects of high molecular weight phthalates and whether to continue the interim ban.”
For more information about phthalates, and other issues concerning children’s safety, please visit www.ChildSafetyTaskForce.org
