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TOYS'R'US FAIL TO ACT ON PVC TOYS DESPITE NATIONAL GOVERNMENTS' ACTION AND NEW DOUBTS ON SAFETY
Amsterdam / Kamen (Germany), 17 December 1997
Thirty Greenpeace activists hold a protest at the German branch of Toys 'R Us in Kamen this morning, against the company's continued sale of soft PVC toys, even though more than 50% of the retailers in Germany have withdrawn these products from their shelves.
This action comes only five days after the German Federal Institute for the Protection of Consumer Health and Veterinary Medicine, the BgVV, recommended "parents not to buy toys made of soft PVC for children up to three years of age, since it cannot be said with certainty that these products are safe". The BgVV also called on the toy industry "as a matter of responsibility, to see that such products do not get on the market (1)".
"Small children are exposed to different kinds of environmental pollution," says Greenpeace chemicals expert Judit Kanthak. "Toys 'R Us is acting irresponsibly by not immediately stopping the sale of soft PVC toys. We call upon Toys 'R Us to ban baby toys made of soft PVC from their product range at once."
On December 16, the Austrian Minister for Consumer Affairs, Barbara Prammer issued a statement concerning a planned legal regulation on toys in Austria. The draft regulation will ban all softeners in PVC toys for children under three. "Toys have to be absolutely safe, and especially with teethers we cannot be sure that small children don't take in high amounts of phthalates (2)", said Prammer.
Two weeks ago the Danish Minister of Environment and Energy initiated action to eliminate hazardous additives in soft PVC toys.
The leaching of phthalates from soft PVC toys has been substantiated by government testing programs in the Netherlands, Austria and Denmark as well as an independent laboratory in the Czech Republic.
"While some governments and retailers are moving to protect children against hazardous soft PVC toys, international toy manufacturers and retailers aren't budging. Companies such as Mattel, Fisher-Price, Hasbro and Disney should be leading the way in getting rid of PVC toys. But instead they are busy watching end of the year profits soar," said Lisa Finaldi of Greenpeace International
Recently, Greenpeace commissioned two studies on PVC toys. The first, released last September, found that soft PVC toys for small children, such as teethers, contain up to 40% by weight of softening chemical additives known as phthalates. Independent laboratory tests conducted on animals show that phthalates are toxic, with health effects ranging from liver and kidney damage to reproductive abnormalities.
In December, a second investigation was released in Germany. It found that excessive levels of phthalates leached out of half of the PVC toys for children under three years of age tested. The softeners contained in PVC toys are not totally bound to the plastic. When children suck, rub, lick, chew and put pressure on soft PVC toys with their mouths and hands, these hazardous chemicals can leach out. end
- Inge Lindemann, Greenpeace Germany, t. +49 40 30618 362
- Luisa Colasimone, Greenpeace Communications, t. +31 20 52 49 546