Congress to Ban Toxins in Toys

Big news from Washington today: Congressional negotiators have agreed to ban a brand of toxins called phthalates from toys and other children's products. This is good news for parents who worry that ingestion of such toxins could cause health problems for their little ones. It's the latest in a trend: perpetually ahead-of-the-curve California instituted a ban last year, as have the European Union and a dozen other countries, and this year Wal-Mart, Toys R Us and Babies R Us said they wouldn't carry phthalate products starting in 2009. The ban is part of a larger measure to reform the Consumer Product Safety Commission. (The bill would also prohibit lead in children's products, which can cause health problems as well.) This is a big deal because phthalates are everywhere. Companies like them because they make plastics softer and more durable. President Bush opposes the move by Congress; one of his backers said that "banning a product before a conclusive, scientific determination is reached is short-sighted and may result in the introduction of unregulated substitute chemicals that harm children's health." It's true that rodents have been the subjects of much of the research linking phthalates to health problems, but there have been human studies too, including one finding that male babies born to women with high phthalate levels in their blood exhibited changes related to reproductive problems.