Creepy Chemicals

Just think of this: The toy industry is told not to use phthalates in their merchandise, yet they flood the market with toys containing the harmful substance. Why? Only because the legislation, passed in August 2008, will not take effect immediately. The ban will become effective on February 10, 2009—more than two months after the Holiday gift buying season. The legislation was passed after researchers had gathered considerable evidence that some phthalates used to soften plastic toys caused disruption in young children’s endocrine system. Just think of it, for years, watchdog groups had expressed concerns. For years, researchers carried out work to determine the risks. For months, the legislatures worked to pass the law. Every one who followed the story knew about the risks of dangerous phthalates. The toy industry, of course, knew even more than any one else. They knew all the concerns. They knew what the researchers had found. They knew very well why the legislatures were pushing for the ban. They knew all this, yet when the ban was announced, instead of taking the harmful stuff off the market, they filled the shelves to the brim. All they seemed concerned with was how quickly they could turn that harmful material into cash. In other words, how quickly they could dump their toxic inventories into the hands—and mouths—of the young ones before the ban would go into effect. Acute brinkmanship? Maybe, but less than a keen civil sense.

So, buyers beware. Do not depend solely on regulatory agencies to keep yourself and your kids safe and healthy. Here is what U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer asked the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) to ensure that the letter and spirit of the CPSC Improvement Act 2008 be carried out. The law required that all toys and children’s products containing phthalates be removed from store shelves by February 10, 2009. Subsequently, however, in response to industry queries, Ms. Cheryl Falvey, General Counsel for the CPSC, issued a CPSC interpretation of the law to the effect that these banned products would be permitted to remain on stores shelves if manufactured before February 10, 2008.

Ms. Boxer said, “This opinion is harmful to our children and a blatant disregard for the law. Ms. Falvey’s claim that our intent was not clear is a pathetic and transparent attempt to avoid enforcing this law. It is beyond me that as they exit the scene, this Administration is still carrying out its malicious actions to weaken environmental protection for our families.� In a letter to Ms. Falvey, Boxer asked her to withdraw her opinion immediately. The full text of Senator Boxer’s letter is available at http://boxer.senate.gov/news/releases/record.cfm?id=305227.

So, buyers beware. Phthalates are present not just in plastic toys and teething rings for children. They are used as well in personal care products such as body and face lotions, lipsticks, hairsprays, shampoos, nail polish and perfumes. They are used as they provide, for example, softness in textures of nail polish or lipsticks or they make hairsprays and lotions voluminous. They are also used in plastic food containers to provide plasticity. Water bottles, if they are left in the car in hot weather, are in particular prone to phthalates leaching into the water. They may also be present in some adhesives. Next time avoid sealing that envelope by licking it. They are used in lubricants, paints, varnishes and other building materials to soften them or to provide solvency. For example, phthalates are used in vinyl to make it less brittle and rigid. It is estimated that close to half a billion kilogram of phthalates yearly are produced worldwide. According to Dr. Joe Thornton’s paper for Healthy Buildings Network, “Phthalates are not chemically bonded to the plastic but are merely mixed with the polymer during formulation. They therefore leach out of the plastic over time into air, water, or other substances with which vinyl comes in contact.�

How do we get exposed to phthalates? Marquita K. Hill in “Understanding Environmental Pollution� explains, “Depending on the product being used, and phthalates it contains, people may inhale phthalates, else ingest them as they leach from plastic products onto food. Phthalates may also be absorbed across the skin. That they do get absorbed into the body was verified in a study performed by the US Centers for Disease Control (CDC) who found phthalates and their breakdown products in human blood and urine.� Besides, our bodies being directly exposed to phthalates by our contact with daily use items, significant indirect exposure occurs via the environment by consuming fish, meat, dairy, crops, drinking water, and inhaling air. This process of contamination of our air, water and soil continues right from the industrial production of plastics to their disposal.

Traditionally, toxicological studies about phthalates have focused on either high level exposures or occupational safety. However, work at Earl Gray’s laboratory at the US Environmental Protection Agency in 1999 showed the risk to fetus development by low level toxic exposure of phthalates. Later, in 2002-03, three studies linked phthalate exposure to reductions in the quality of human semen. These studies were based on environmental levels of phthalates at the level of ordinary exposure and not to higher occupational levels. One showed DNA damage in sperm. Two others found reductions in sperm quality. During 2005-06, two papers revealed biological impacts on animals well within the range of common human exposure. “One examined impacts on the activity of the enzyme aromatase, which is essential for masculinizing male brains. The second experimented with DEHP's ability to exacerbate allergic reactions to an allergen, providing a possible clue as to why allergy rates have gone up so much in the developed world.� In another study in 2005, “researchers identified an association between pregnant women’s exposure to phthalates and adverse effects on genital development in their male children. …The adverse effects are seen at phthalate levels below those found in one-quarter of women in the United States, based on a nation-wide survey by the Centers for Disease Control,� according to reports by Theo Colborn et al., authors of “Our Stolen Future�.

Consequently, a hot debate erupted about the risks of phthalates and the need for appropriate regulatory action. According to the “Our Stolen Future� website, http://www.ourstolenfuture.org, “European regulators kicked off this debate when they began to explore the possibility of bans on toys intended for infants that contained DEHP. This set in motion fierce industry lobbying from the United States to head off the ban, an effort that not only proved unsuccessful ultimately in Europe, but one that was matched in the US by a call by the Consumer Products Safety Commission for a voluntary phase-out by US manufacturers.�

Subsection 108 (b)(2) of the legislature discussed above reads, “Not earlier than 180 days of enactment the Commission shall begin the process of appointing a Chronic Hazard Advisory Panel (CHAP) ….� In other words, the process of appointing CHAP will not begin before February 10, 2009. According to the subsection, the review for the potential effects of phthalates will be completed in 18 months. In doing so, the CHAP will consider the cumulative effects of exposure to multiple phthalates from all sources, including personal care products. Then, the CHAP will recommend to the Commission whether to continue the interim ban and whether additional bans on phthalates or phthalate alternatives are needed.

To reach this stage of legislative action has taken over nine years of research and activism by consumer groups and legislative work by law makers. Ironically, even after that, consumer safety is not ensured. There is confusion about the scope of implementation. Will toys manufactured before February 10, 2009 stay on the shelves? The many manufacturers and traders tend to respond affirmatively. So buyers beware. Do your homework. Look for information. Do search on the Internet whenever in doubt. Do not depend on mainstream media only. Keep your eyes and ears open and avoid buying phthalate suspicious products.