Who’s Getting It Right? Israel Case Study (PDF)

Phthalates bans are misguided and not scientifically supported. Removing phthalates from the marketplace would force manufacturers to use more costly, untested and potentially harmful alternative softeners, exposing our children to unknown dangers, consumers to unnecessary increased cost and manufacturers to potential liability.

Consumer Safety. Phthalates have been safely used in children’s toys, medical devices and consumer products for more than 50 years. In particular diisononyl phthalate (DINP), the primary plastic softener found in children’s toys, has been reviewed and approved for safe use by numerous government agencies and independent evaluators. If safe and proven chemicals are banned, manufacturers will resort to untested and potentially unsafe alternative plastic softeners for use in our children’s toys.

Consumer Cost. If phthalates are banned, consumers can expect unnecessary and dramatic price increases. Untested alternative plasticizers are three times more expensive, and of the nine alternative plasticizers currently, in the market, none have been tested or approved for use in children’s toys by government agencies.

Impact on low/fixed income consumers. Low/fixed income consumers are disproportionately impacted by these price increases. Limited and non-proficient English speaking consumers often do not have the skills to evaluate information they hear and are more dependent on the government to provide them facts to base their health, consumer safety or purchasing decisions. Factual information is more difficult to get for these consumers because of inability to follow main-stream media and a sense of mistrust of information coming from experts that do not address their community needs.

Unintended Consequences of Lack of Research. Aqua Dots Recall 2007: The bead craft toy was subject to a multi-national product recall after it was found that the Wangqi Product Factory in China had substituted a cheaper chemical for the specified one in some shipped toys. The non-toxic chemical 1.5-pentanediol, a viscous oily liquid used as a solvent, was replaced with 1.4-butanediol, which when ingested is metabolized into the drug gamma-Hydroxybutyric acid (GHB is an anesthetic which is misused as a recreational drug and date rape drug). The chemically changed product resulted in the illness and hospitalization of some children who ingested the beads.1

Easy-Bake Oven Recall 2007: Manufacturers of the oven changed the toy’s design to make the oven safer and unintentionally created a hazard they did not anticipate. Since February of 2007 the Consumer Product Safety Commission recalled the product for children under 8-years of age after Easy-Bake received 249 reports of children getting their hands or fingers caught in the oven’s opening, including five reports of burns.2

Simplicity Crib Recall 2007: This past September the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission announced the recall of 1 million cribs made by Simplicity of Reading, Pa. If assembled improperly, one side of the crib can detach and suffocate children. The cribs have been linked to three deaths and seven "infant entrapments," according to Simplicity’s Web site. In recalling the cribs Simplicity Inc. said it would send owners a repair kit and have them fix the problem themselves. However, it was revealed that the company is sending replacement parts to owners without instructions, creating the potential for more injuries. Simplicity acknowledged they had announced the recall without having an approved repair kit for consumers.3

Join our efforts to ensure child safety through the use of safe, tested and government approved chemicals in toys. Learn more and take action today!