September 1997 - The Spanish Confederación de Consumidores y Usuarios (CECU) - Consumer and User Confederation - asked the Ministry of Health to establish mandatory labeling of the materials used for the manufacturing of the product, in the interests of consumer protection.
The CECU also recommended the elimination, when possible, of the consumption of PVC infant products, and that the toys purchased before their withdrawal from the market should be returned to the store, asking for a refund.
October 1997 - The Spanish Confederación Española de Asociaciones de Padres y Madres de Alumnos (CEAPA) - the Spanish Confederation of Associations of Students Fathers and Mothers - sent a letter to the Minister of Education in which they asked t he Ministry of Education to withdraw soft PVC toys from all infant educational centers so as to protect children's health.
November 19, 1997 - the Dutch Consumer Agency issued a press release confirming that some soft PVC toys are still on the shelves.
December 5, 1997 - the German Consumers Organization, AgV, called for a ban of soft PVC children's toys.
December 9, 1997 - The German Ecological Product Control Association, OKO-TEST, published results of its own tests of 37 teething rings in which all PVC products containing phthalates were classified "not recommendable."
February 1998 - The Spanish Federación de Usuarios-Consumidores Independientes (FUCI) - Independent Users-Consumers Federation - joined the Greenpeace campaign alerting consumers about the risks derived from PVC toys. "We demand a legislation th at clarifies the actual situation of products with the mentioned substance, as well as an information campaign promoted by our own Ministry so as to alert and inform consumers of the risks of using these products".
"Furthermore, the FUCI demands a comparison and modernization of the consumer protection legislation in accordance with the unification situation of the European legislation and to protect the Spanish consumer at the same level they're protected in other European countries such as Denmark or Austria".
The FUCI also demanded that retailers should withdraw these products until the situation is clarified.
April 9, 1998 - The European consumer's organization, Bureau Europeen des Unions de Consomatteurs, called on the European Commission to urgently ban soft PVC toys.
August, 1998 - Doctors for the Environment have prepared a doucment about children's health on 'the right of children to be free from pollution,', which was presented as a model to follow during the 1st International Conference on "Children's Hea lth and the Environment" held in Amsterdam 11-13 August 1998. It includes a provision that 'products designed for use in early infancy as well as toys should not contain toxic products and should not constitute any form of danger to health'.
September 21, 1998 - The Dutch Consumer Union, which sat on the Technical Consensus Group set up by the Dutch Government to conduct a study into the migration of phthalates from soft PVC toys, said that the study had 'increased doubts about the sa fety of these products. For the Consumer Union this is sufficient grounds for stopping sales immediately.'
Organizations/Individuals Signing Statement of Concern Regarding the Hazards of PVC Children's Toys
Asia Pacific Environmental
Exchange, Washington, USA
Professor Finn Bro-Rasmussen, Technical University of Denmark
Center for Environmental Health, California, USA
Chemical Connection, Texas, USA
Child Care Action Campaign, New York, USA
Children's Environmental Health Network, California, USA
Citizen Action, USA
Citizen's Environmental Coalition, New York, USA
Citizens Environmental Council, Texas, USA
Citizens for a Better Environment, Illinois and Wisconsin, USA
Citizens to Save Lake Waco, Texas, USA
Cleveland Earth Day Coalition, Ohio, USA
Cold Mountain, Montana, USA
Consumer Federation of America, USA
Ecology Center of Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
Empire State Consumer Association, New York, USA
Environmental Research Foundation, Maryland, USA
Galveston-Houston Association for Smog Prevention, Texas, USA
Grassroots Coalition for Environmental and Economic Justice, Maryland, USA
Groups Allied to Stop Pollution, Texas, USA
Help our Polluted Environment, Florida, USA
MC Cheer, Montana, USA
Michigan Environmental Council, Michigan, USA
Michigan Environmental Health Coalition, Michigan, USA
Mothers and Others, New York, USA
Native Forest Network, Montana, USA
North Carolina WARN, North Carolina, USA
NYPIRG, New York, USA
Stig Olsen, Technical University of Denmark
Parents Against Lead, Illinois, USA
People Against Contaminated Environment, Texas, USA
Phillips Lead Project, Minnesota, USA
Physicians for Social Responsibility, USA
Protect All Children's Environment, Texas, USA
Public Citizen, USA
Regional Environmental Action League, Minnesota, USA
RESTORE, Louisiana, USA
Sierra Club Lone Star Chapter, Texas, USA
Joe Thornton, Columbia University
USPIRG, USA
Washington Toxics Coalition, Washington, USA
Waste Not, New York, USA
Waste Prevention Association, Poland
Klaus Wilmann, BUPL, Denmark
Women's Voices for the Earth, Montana, USA