A Real Solution to Toy Safety

• The Child Safety Task Force opposes proposed state and federal bans on plastic softeners found in toys called phthalates (pronounced THAL-ates). Diisononyl phthalate, DINP, is one kind of phthalate.

• The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) studied DINP and concluded there is “no demonstrated health risk” from its use in toys and “no justification” for banning its use. The Centers for Disease Control also found that average human exposure to DINP is far below safety levels set by the Environmental Protection Agency.

• ACSH convened a Blue Ribbon Panel in 1999 chaired by former Surgeon General C. Everett Koop, which reviewed the scientific literature on phthalate exposure. Dr. Koop concluded that “the panel’s findings confirm what the US Food and Drug Administration and the Consumer Product Safety Commission have been saying about these products all along. There is no scientific evidence that they are harmful to children or adults.”

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