Finally! Toy Makers Come Clean On Hidden Chemicals
Remember the Fall of 2007 when Thomas, Elmo, Dora, and over 20 million toys were pulled from toy store shelves because they contained high levels of lead? Parents and other concerned consumers were left wondering: what other harmful chemicals are hiding in toy boxes? Fortunately, thanks to new rules proposed in Washington state, we’re about to find out.
Remember the Fall of 2007 when Thomas, Elmo, Dora, and over 20 million toys were pulled from toy store shelves because they contained high levels of lead? Parents and other concerned consumers were left wondering: what other harmful chemicals are hiding in toy boxes? Fortunately, thanks to new rules proposed in Washington state, we’re about to find out.
Last week, the Washington State Department of Ecology proposed new rules to require makers of children’s products to reveal whether they use chemicals harmful to children in their products. The rules are required by the Children’s Safe Products Act of 2008, a law passed by the Washington state legislature in response to the lead recalls of 2007.
The rules require manufacturers for the first time ever to disclose the presence of up to 59 chemicals in their products. Chemicals to be reported include cancer-causing cadmium and formaldehyde, the hormone-disrupting bisphenol A, brain-damaging mercury, and endocrine-disrupting phthalates.
The list and reporting requirements are a good first step in a country where government agencies charged with keeping us safe don’t even know what’s in toys and other consumer products. And it’s evident the problem of harmful chemicals in children’s products goes far beyond lead. Reports surface far too often about other harmful chemicals found in children’s products, like formaldehyde in baby blankets and cadmium in jewelry and drinking glasses. Parents shouldn’t have to wait for a television news story to find out what’s in the things their children use everyday.
The new rule will give parents the information they need to make good decisions about what products to buy for their kids. Government agencies too will get the information they need to take action on those products that pose a threat to children’s health.
Of course the rule proposal isn’t perfect. It should be improved to include lower reporting limits for chemicals and require companies to report when and where they are using a toxic chemical. A plan to ensure the public has wide and easy access to the information on the chemicals also needs to accompany the rule. But overall, Ecology’s first draft is based on common sense, and most importantly, puts children’s health first.
Before the rules go into effect, Ecology is sure to come under pressure from opponents to weaken the rule. The chemical and toy industries are fighting tooth and nail against the new requirements and have already been lobbying the agency to remove chemicals from the reporting list and increase the limits for reporting.
For example, shampoo maker Johnson & Johnson is asking that endocrine-disrupting parabens be removed from the list and the Toy Industry Association is complaining that it’s too hard to report lower levels of chemicals despite the fact that research confirms low levels of chemicals are problematic for kids’ health. That’s why it’s important for the public to weigh in and tell Ecology to issue a strong final rule.
Ecology is taking public comments on the rule through December 31, 2010. You can write a comment and show support for these first-ever rules to protect children’s health here.
Image courtesy of flickr user red5standingby
