Toy Law Aimed to Make Toys Safer
Submitted by Dr. Gwenn Is In
This is good news after all the recalls and concerns of the past year with so many toys.
The proposed law would ban the use of the chemicals in toys we have been most concerned about recently: lead and phthalates. Assuming the law doesn’t get vetoed by President Bush, it would take effect in 6months. Even without this law, WalMart, ToysRUs and BabiesRUS have gone on record stating they will no longer stock toys with these chemicals as of January 1, 2009.
What is the concern with phthalates? Reproductive issues in males and cancer. While some argue that the safety data is inconclusive to support such a ban, too many health expert disagree citing cumulative exposure as the risk the issue that current studies don’t do a great job assessing. For this reason, many European countries already ban phthalates as well as California, Vermont and Washington state.
I tend to agree with the cumulative exposure argument. We already have studies citing a potential risk to our kids - a risk with considerable health consequences. Removing the risk is the only way to protect our kids. I don’t buy the argument that removing phthalates will only then expose our kids to something equally dangerous. I would hope that the toy makers would use some common sense and judgment to find a safer alternative. In fact, they have a huge moral and ethical responsibility to do so.
Regardless of whether this law gets vetoed, the future of toy safety seems brighter for our kids. The tides are clearly moving in that direction and a veto won’t be able to stop that - how refreshing for a change.
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