GREENPEACE URGES RETAILERS TO WITHDRAW VINYL BABY TOYS

Health Canada to conduct tests on hazardous chemicals found in toys

TORONTO/MONTREAL, September 23, 1997 -- Greenpeace sent letters to leading Canadian retailers this morning demanding they immediately withdraw from sale all toys made from soft PVC plastic (vinyl) for children aged three and under. Last week Greenpeace announced findings of high levels of hazardous softening chemicals or plasticisers known as phthalates in soft PVC toys (1).

Letters were sent to Toys R Us, Canada's dominant specialty toys retailer, and to Canada's two largest general retailers, Wal-Mart and Zellers. Greenpeace is also demanding that retailers immediately initiate labelling of all toys with the type(s) of plastic they contain. "We know these toys contain hazardous chemicals and we know children are swallowing them. Retailers need to act now to protect children's health", said Morag Simpson, toxics campaigner for Greenpeace.

Currently, children's toys are rarely labelled with product indredients. "Greenpeace Canada wrote to Toys R Us in September 1996 requesting they identify all toys made of PVC, but the company failed to reply," said Dr. Matthew Bramley, a Greenpeace chemist.

Health Canada has reacted to Greenpeace's findings by initiating its own tests on PVC toys on sale in Canada to verify the levels of phthalates used to soften the plastic. When interviewed on CBC radio last Friday, Francois Dignard, Chief of Health Canada's Consumer Products Division refused to confirm soft PVC toys were safe. Mr. Dignard stated that his department will also conduct a separate study to determine the exact amounts of hazardous chemicals ingested by young children when they suck or chew on toys made from PVC.

When similar studies conducted earlier this year by Danish and Dutch govenments revealed alarming results, the Dutch Chief Inspector of Public consumer Health Protection wrote to toy distributors urging them to stop marketing soft PVC toys for babies.

In a number of European countries, retailers are abandoning PVC, which is easily replaced by natural materials or other plastics that do not require softeners (2). Last May, Danish superstore chains FDB and May Bilka and Swedish chain KF stopped selling soft PVC toys for children under three. Last July the major Dutch retailer Blokker announced that it would no longer order toys containing PVC for children under three. Blokker also specified that it would not purchase toys using PVC packaging. In August, the largest Dutch retailer de Bijenkorf removed known PVC toys from it shelves.

For more information contact:

Dr. Matthew Bramley, Greenpeace chemist at (514) 933-0021 or cell phone (514) 898-35867 (for interviews in English and French) Morag Simpson, Greenpeace Toxics Campaigner or Alison Turner, A/Media Coordinator at (416) 597-8408

Editors' Notes:

1. Determination of the Composition and Quantity of Phthalate Ester Additives in PVC Children's Toys Report, Greenpeace Science Unit, September 1997. Available from Greenpeace on request.

2. A background document on soft PVC toys and plastic alternatives and a list of toys containing PVC and toys without PVC marketed by U.s and European companies. Available from Greenpeace on request.

President, Toys R Us (Canada) Ltd.
2777 Longstaff Road
Concord, Ontario L4K 4M5

Copy by FAX to (905) 660-2022

Dear Mr Van Beek:

In a survey of toys from 17 countries including Canada, Greenpeace has found that almost all of those made from soft PVC plastic (vinyl) contain large quantities of hazardous plasticizers called phthalates. All four toys we bought in Canada contained diisononyl phthalate (DINP) in proportions ranging from 20 to 38 per cent. This is likely to be typical of any soft PVC toy.

DINP is a hazardous chemical that has been shown, in laboratory animals, to cause liver and kidney disorders, damage to the reproductive tract, and increased incidence of certain cancers. Recent research has also shown it to be a weak estrogen mimic in human cell lines. When DINP is bought for use in the laboratory, it is labelled with phrases including "harmful by inhalation, in contact with skin and if swallowed", "possible risk of irreversible effects" and "may cause cancer".

Most of the toys in our survey are intended for babies and children under three, and many are specifically designed to be sucked and chewed. It has been known for many years that phthalates are released from soft PVC during use, especially in conditions of mechanical stress such as chewing. Studies conducted earlier this year by the Danish and Dutch governments showed that children sucking on soft PVC toys could exceed the tolerable daily intake of DINP by up to 40 times.

These findings led the Dutch Chief Inspector of Public Consumer Health Protection, Dr. F. Schuring, to say, in a letter to toy importers and distributors dated 16-July-1997, "... I am urging you to no longer market toys for babies which contain PVC which has been softened. In addition, I would ask you to give serious consideration to a voluntary recall of the PVC toys with a high phthalate content which were investigated by my inspectorate, so that the confidence of the consumer in the safety of toys is not shaken."

Retail chains that have already taken action include FDB and May Bilka (Denmark) and KF (Sweden), who have stopped selling soft PVC toys for children under three; major Dutch retailer Blokker, who has stated that all future orders for toys for the under threes would specify that they contain no PVC; and the largest Dutch retailer de Bijenkorf, which has removed known PVC toys from its shelves.

Health Canada has refused to confirm the safety of soft PVC toys, and has announced that it has already initiated studies similar to those conducted by the Danish and Dutch governments. We are calling on you to move proactively to remove all soft PVC toys for children under three from your shelves now. In addition, we call on you to immediately initiate labelling of all your toys with the types of plastics they contain.

Yours sincerely,

Matthew Bramley, Morag Simpson
Toxics Campaigners, Greenpeace Canada

[Letters to Wal-Mart and Zellers are identical]