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It's not just about lead anymore

Pioneer Press
December 5, 2007
By MAJA BECKSTROM

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A coalition of environmental and health organizations is hoping the increased public concern about lead in children's toys will bolster its efforts to pass a ban in Minnesota on other potentially toxic chemicals in children's products. Here's a word they want parents to watch for as well: phthalates.

On Wednesday, the Minnesota environmental health organization Healthy Legacy, along with similar organizations in several other states, released the results of a test of 1,200 toys and children's products. Along with lead, the group tested toys for cadmium, arsenic, mercury and chlorine. Chlorine indicates the presence of polyvinyl chloride, known as PVC. The widely used plastic often contains phthalates, a group of chemicals added to plastic to make it softer and more flexible, and which has been linked to abnormal development in animals.

Target and Wal-Mart are phasing out products containing PVC because of these concerns, and in October, California joined the European Union in banning some phthalates in children's and infants' products.

Three-quarters of the toys tested by the Ecology Center, a Michigan nonprofit organization, contained one of the five substances - a third of the toys tested contained lead and about half contained chlorine. Due to recent toy recalls, the public is well aware of the neurological dangers posed by lead. Environmental health groups are hoping to convince wary parents that phthalates pose a similar risk.

"The phthalates do not stick to the plastic," said Lindsay Dahl of Healthy Legacy. "They come off and find their way into children's mouths and their bodies. There is no reason for these chemicals to be in children's products."

Phthalates are widespread and found in the urine of most adults and children. Healthy Legacy points to animal studies that link phthalates to abnormal development of the reproductive organs, liver and kidneys and to several human studies, one of which suggested that phthalates in a mother's body during pregnancy had subtle effects on the development of the genitals of infant boys.

"They've been linked to a slew of different problems," said David Wallinga, a physician and the director of the food and health program at the Minnesota-based Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, one of the founders of Healthy Legacy.

"We know the chemicals have some hazards to them. We're not always sure how that translates into health outcomes. But why would you want to expose kids to something if there is lingering uncertainty about the whole range of its effects?" The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention fact sheet on phthalates says their health effects "are not yet fully known" and that "more research is needed."

On the other side of the debate, the American Chemistry Council, which represents manufacturers of plastic products, maintains the risks have been exaggerated and that phthalates have been used safely for decades.

"The Consumer Product Safety Commission has done the most extensive study on phthalates and has said there is negligible risk to kids," said Marian Stanley, a chemist who manages the council's Phthalate Testers Panel. "Kids will not be harmed by playing with vinyl toys."

But Sen. Sandy Rummel, DFL-White Bear Lake, doesn't find that reassuring.

"That's what they said about asbestos years ago," she said. Rummel plans to reintroduce legislation in the coming legislative session that would ban phthalates from products for children under age 3, along with another potentially toxic plastic additive, bisphenol A, which shows up in everything from baby bottles to the lining of metal food cans.

Rummel introduced the bill during the past session, but it didn't get much attention. Given the concern over lead in toys, she thinks the legislation will go further next year. "We have an increase in testicular cancer, an increase in low sperm counts, an increase in other health problems," she said. "Are these the result of this chemical, or that chemical, or the mix that we're putting out there into the environment? I'm not sure. But we shouldn't wait until something is proven bad. We should prove it safe before we use them."

Meanwhile, what are parents to do?

For those who want to take the most conservative route, Healthy Legacy has introduced a database (HealthyToys.org) of all the toys tested, including those that didn't contain any lead, cadmium, arsenic, mercury or PVC. Surprising some people, these "safe" toys included many made in China. Examples include Amazing Animals Hippo by Fisher-Price (made in China); Caterpillar Grasping Toy by Melissa & Doug (made in Vietnam); and B.R. Bruin Stacking Cups (made in China).

If parents want to know the composition of a particular toy not in the database, they're out of luck, unless they have an X-ray fluorescence (XRF) analyzer, which costs upward of $27,000. It looks a bit like a DustBuster and can detect the presence of specified chemical elements up to a half-centimeter deep into an object.

During a demonstration Wednesday, Healthy Legacy's Dahl tested a vinyl lunchbox given away at a Minnesota Timberwolves game with the analyzer. The chlorine levels indicated it was likely made of PVC, and the lead level was 1,469 parts per million, far above the 40 parts per million recommended as a threshold by the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Dahl also tested a rubber duck toy. That had trace amounts of lead, but does it contain phthalates? It's likely, but only the manufacturer knows for sure.

"I have two rubber duckies on my desk at work," Dahl said. "They look the same and feel the same. One contains phthalates, and that's the one sold in the United States. The other doesn't, and that's the one that's sold and marketed in Europe. There are safer alternatives and we should be using them."

Maja Beckstrom can be reached at mbeckstrom@pioneerpress.com or 651-228-5295.

NOTICE: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this information for research and educational purposes.