Store yanks direct-to-mouth plastic toys

Phthalates, found in some plastic toys, cause liver and kidney lesions and other damage in laboratory animals, according to the National Environmental Trust

November 17, 1998
Web posted at: 12:00 PM EST

By Environmental News Network staff

(ENN) -- Toys 'R' Us, a worldwide seller of toys, said Friday it would have all direct-to-mouth toys that contain phthalates removed from its store shelves by Wednesday.

The decision came just one day after the National Environmental Trust, a nonprofit environmental organization, released test results showing that 33 common soft plastic children's toys -- seven of which could be purchased at Toys 'R' Us -- contained high levels of the chemical.

A growing body of scientific evidence suggests these chemicals cause liver and kidney lesions and other damage in laboratory animals and seep out of soft plastic, according to the group.

Phthalates are elasticizers that have been used in plastics since 1930. Phthalates are also found in inks used on plastic- and foil-packed products, in vinyl flooring and emulsion paints.

The chemical is considered a part of a group of environmental toxins that is thought to mimic female hormones and have been implicated in reduced sperm counts in men and the feminization of male fish.

"The fact is that chemicals that are in a plastic don't stay stuck or bound to the plastic, said David Ozonoff, MD and chair of the Department of Environmental Health at Boston University School of Public Health.

"For example, when you buy a new car and smell that great 'new car' smell, you are largely smelling the phthalates that are in the plastics on the inside of the car. The phthalates, like DINP, that make up so many common teething rings and plastic toys, are not bound to the plastic at all. So, when a child chews on the toy, the saliva wets the plastic so the phthalates leach out into the saliva and are ingested by the child," he said.

"Some of the children in my pediatric practice eat more plastic than broccoli everyday, and the phthalates in that plastic." -- Dr. Harvey Karp, assistant clinical professor of pediatrics at UCLA School of Medicine

The phthalate group of chemicals includes diethylhexylphthalate (DEHP), monoethylhexylphthalate (MEHP), dimethylphthalate (DMP), butylbenzylphthalate (BBP), dibutylphthalate (DBP) and dioetylphthalate (DOP).

"Toys 'R' Us deserves great credit for putting the health and safety of its customers first," said Philip Clapp, president of National Environmental Trust. "We strongly believe that limiting the scope of your action to just one class of toys -- infant toys intended for the mouth -- protects some children but leaves millions of others still exposed to potentially dangerous chemicals," he said.

"Your company certainly knows what every parent knows, that infants and toddlers put everything in their mouths, often for extended periods of time -- and they certainly don't discriminate between 'direct-to-mouth' toys and other toys," Clapp said in a letter to Toys 'R' Us Chief Executive Officer Robert Nakasone.

Of the seven Toys 'R' Us toys the trust tested, only one -- Sesame Street teether ring containing 30 percent phthalates by weight -- would be covered by the toy company's action, according to the group.

Each of the other toys with the chemical, including a Teletubbies doll from Playskool made of 17 percent phthalates and a Little Pony doll from Hasbro made of 22 percent phthalates, would remain on Toys 'R' Us shelves.

"I see dozens of kids in my practice come in every day with all kinds of soft plastic toys in hand that are bitten and chewed," said Dr. Harvey Karp, assistant clinical professor of pediatrics at UCLA School of Medicine. "Some of the children in my pediatric practice eat more plastic than broccoli everyday, and the phthalates in that plastic."

The environmental group Greenpeace has waged a battle against plastic toys containing phthalates since 1997. As the result of a Greenpeace action in October 1997, Toys R Us, Austria, withdrew 10 products from their shelves made of soft plastic for children under 3. The company also committed to identify and withdraw all soft plastic baby toys from their stores in Austria within two weeks. However, in November 1997, according to Greenpeace, toys that were removed from the shelves had been put back out at the instruction of the U.S. headquarters.

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