News tagged with 'Phthalates'

Washington state missed the deadline to submit a list of the top 50 chemicals that makers of children's products are required to report under a law passed in 2008. Expected to make the list are Bisphenol-A and mercury.

The U.S. lags behind the European Union in regulating chemicals dumped into the environment. A new book by the Center for Investigative Reporting, says while the U.S. has registered about 80,000 chemicals for use, the UK requires they be assessed for their potential toxic effects. 

Bisphenol A, a plastic component that mimics the hormone, estrogen, and may cause cancer, is found in many non-food sources, this study finds.  And instead of quickly passing throughthe body, as previously thought, may linger in fat cells. 

It is a mystery that will take 21 years to solve - how do solents, plastics, chemicals in our environment adversely affect children's health and disease. The NIH and CDC will examine more than 100,000 participants at 105 diverse sites around the country in this ambitious National Children's Health Study. 

On Thursday, a panel of experts urged U.S. regulators to examine whether a controversial class of chemicals, known as phthalates, found in many plastic products including children's toys and baby bottles can be harmful.

Following several toy recalls last year, parents are likely to feel confused as they shop this holiday season. But, we assure you, there are safe toys out there and we have suggestions and tips to help make finding them easier.

The Ecology Center has released the 2nd annual consumer guide to toxic chemicals in toys at HealthyToys.org. One-third of the toys tested had medium or high levels of chemical concern this year, including arsenic, lead, mercury and other harmful chemicals.

HealthyToys consumer guide to toxic chemicals tested 1,500 toys and found one third of them contained medium to high levels of arsenic, cadmium, lead and other harmful chemicals.

A study out of a London University finds that phthalates in hairspray are linked to a genital birth defect in boys. The UK is ahead of the US in phasing out phthalates, a chemical used to make plastics soft that may be an endocrine disruptor.

All children’s toys and products must meet new, stricter lead standards by February 10, 2009, no matter when the products were made, according to a newly released legal opinion by the Consumer Product Safety Commission.

The FDA is meeting on September 16 regarding the safety of bisphenol-A (BPA), a chemical commonly found in baby bottles and other household products. A nationwide ban on phthalates is expected to go into effect in early 2009.