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Wednesday, 21 May, 2008 12:55 PM
Child Safety
Group Pushes for Greater Toy Safety Based on Science
Petitions
Consumer Product Safety Commission to Regulate Additives
Photo
courtesy of www.btha.co.uk
WASHINGTON --
The Child Safety Task Force (CSTF) today petitioned the
Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) to regulate additives
in toys for children and establish a national standard for toy safety.
"It's essential that the federal government restore both consumer
safety and confidence in the marketplace," stated Bob Johnson,
President of the Child Safety Task Force. "Parents should have
assurance that toys and the chemicals within them will not harm
their children."
Specifically, the petition
requests the CPSC appoint a Chronic Hazard Advisory Panel (CHAP)
to critically assess the risks to human health presented by exposure
to toys or any other products designed or intended for use by a
child under six (6) years of age that contain phthalates or other
plasticizers used to soften vinyl products, and that the Commission
update its prior assessment of di-isononyl phthalate (DINP), the
most commonly used plasticizer in children's toys, as it deems necessary
in its sole discretion.
The U.S. Consumer Product
Safety Commission spent four years studying DINP and concluded that
there is "no demonstrated health risk" from its use in
toys and "no justification" for banning its use. Scientists
for The European Union and National Institutes of Health have reached
similar conclusions about the safety of DINP.
"Unfortunately,
when legislators rush to pass laws ostensibly designed to protect
the public, they often ignore the principles of sound scientific
practice and rely on sloppy or biased studies," said Dr. Elmer
Rauckman, Former Staff Scientist with the National Toxicology Program.
"Legislating away a substance with a long history of safe use
and a solid set of supporting data, is opening the door to incompletely-tested
possibly harmful chemicals. It is important we know all the facts
before we move toward a ban of any useful products."
CSTF is concerned about
the unintended consequences of instilling a ban on a known, tested
substance that would force manufacturers to replace DINP with lesser
known alternatives. Many alternatives to DINP have not been proven
safe by any U.S. government regulatory agency and could potentially
expose our kids to unknown risks.
"Nothing is more
important than the safety of our children," Amanda McGannon
stated. "I'm a member of the Child Safety Task Force out of
concern for the unintended consequences created by banning chemicals
and using alternatives in our children's toys that we know little
about."
Additionally, the petition
asks CPSC to establish federal preemption over state and municipal
regulations governing toy additives.
Last year the state of
California banned DINP and created the unintentional consequence
of forcing manufacturers to use plasticizers that have not been
reviewed by the CPSC. The nation of Israel recently overturned a
politically driven DINP ban. The states of Connecticut, Hawaii,
Maryland, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, South Carolina and West Virginia
stopped activist efforts to pass chemical bans in their states this
year.
The Child Safety Task
Force is a diverse alliance of organizations, scientists and consumers
promoting sound science and government testing of chemicals used
in children's products. We believe that confidence in toy safety
can only be attained through proven science and approval from regulatory
agencies of jurisdiction. Member organizations include, California
Alliance for Consumer Protection, Consumers for Competitive Choice,
Consumers First, Labor Council on Latin American Advancement, MANA:
A National Latina Organization, National Legal and Policy Center,
US Mexico Chamber of Commerce. Scientists include, Dr. Bill Knowles,
Nobel Prize Winner in Chemistry in 2001 and Dr. Elmer Rauckman,
Former Staff Scientist at the National Toxicology Program.
Source: Child Safety
Task Force
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