Vinyl Toys - European Ban on Phthalates in Toys Flies in Face of Decades of Safe Use

A Statement by Tim Burns, Executive Director,
The Vinyl Institute, Washington, D.C., November 11, 1999

It defies reason and logic for the European Commission (EC) to take emergency action against phthalates in toys given the decades in which phthalates have been used without any evidence of harm, the stamps of approval given them in recent scientific and regulatory reviews, and the ongoing efforts by industry and government to deal sensibly with migration of phthalates from vinyl.

The EC's decision to ban phthalates from toys intended to be put in the mouth by children under three years old is not only bad policy but also dangerous. It raises more questions than it answers: What will soft toys be made of? Do alternative plasticizers have as much scientific study supporting them as phthalates do? Most important, how is the public good served by policy making that declares an emergency without significant new evidence of a problem?

Despite the lack of evidence that phthalates pose a risk to children, the vinyl industry has supported a performance standard for these products that would ensure that toys are subject to appropriate migration limits and would assure parents that they are buying safe products for their children. The industry urges the EC to explore this opportunity for a rational policy rather than take such draconian and politically motivated action to ban these important materials.

Recent statements and actions by regulatory agencies and scientific review panels underscore the safety of phthalates and the inappropriateness of an emergency ban:

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), after evaluating exposure to DINP, the phthalate used in toys, concluded, "Generally, the amount ingested does not even come close to a harmful level." In no instance did the exposure estimates exceed acceptable daily intake levels, CPSC found.
A blue-ribbon scientific panel of health experts chaired by former Surgeon General C. Everett Koop under the auspices of the American Council on Science and Health this summer found that DINP "is not harmful for children in the normal use of these toys."
The EC's own scientific review body, the Scientific Committee for Toxicity, Ecotoxicity and the Environment (CSTEE) stated in 1998 that phthalate plasticizers can be safely used in the production of soft PVC toys and childcare items, provided that migration limits are adhered to.
The Netherlands has been working on migration limits, finding that the potential risk from phthalates in toys was too small to justify a ban.

Phthalates are softeners added to vinyl to make it flexible and provide other benefits. They have been used safely and effectively for more than 40 years in toys and critical-care medical devices.

The Vinyl Institute, founded in 1982, is a trade association representing the leading manufacturers of vinyl, vinyl products and additives.