Phthalates are chemicals that are considered toxic waste by the US Environmental Protection Agency, and yet they included in most plastic toys and other items that come in contact with out babies, such as sippy cups. Phthalates make plastic toys soft and flexible, and they are many different products. Research has shown a connection between phthalates and reproductive issues in boys and the early onset of puberty in girls.
If you read my earlier post, House Approves Legislation for Tougher Toy Standards, you’ll know that the US government may be soon taking steps to ban the inclusion of phthalates in our children’s products. President Bush is expected to sign the legislation into law later this year.
In the meantime, how do you protect your children without taking away all of there playthings?
There is no real way for the average consumer to tell if a product does not contain phthalates except through the claims of the manufacturer. But I have learned a few things that might make easier for you to avoid coming in contact with these chemicals when it comes to toys.
Some manufacturers have already volunteered to phase out phthalates in their toys. Hasbro and Mattel have stopped adding phthalates to new toys, although they may be present in older toys that are still sitting on the shelves of the warehouse or toys store. Big box stores, such as Wal-Mart, Target and Toys R Us have instituted requirements for their toy manufacturers to deliver toys that are without phthalates, so you may be safer shopping at one of these stores, especially when you purchase a new toy from a name brand manufacturer. In non-toys, Medela claims that it never included phthalates in any of its baby bottles, baby nipples or other feeding products.
Soft flexible plastic toys tend to be the ones containing phthalates. Some examples of these types of toys include rubber duckies, bath books, soft flexible building blocks (I shudder thinking about how many times those went in my infants’ mouths), teething rings and teething toys, plastic mesh (such as in those devices that are supposed to prevent choking in a baby who is just trying finger food), rubbery coated rattles, baby bottles, Barbie-type fashion dolls and more.
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