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GREENPEACE PULLS HAZARDOUS PVC TOYS FROM TOYS "R" US SHELVES
Company withdraws products in Europe--but not Canada
TORONTO Canada, November 27, 1997
Greenpeace activists have hung a banner at the site of a Toronto Toys "R" Us store urging the company to "Stop Selling Toxic Toys." The action highlights the fact that all Toys R' Us stores in Denmark, Holland and Belgium have withdrawn soft PVC plastic (vinyl) toys for children under three from sale, while Canadian stores have kept the same products on their shelves.
At the site of the action at Toronto's Dufferin Mall, Greenpeace activists loaded shopping carts with PVC toys and signs reading "Play Safe: Buy PVC - free". The activists confronted the Toys "R" Us manager calling on the retailer to follow the example of her European colleagues who have acted to prevent unnecessary and unwanted exposure of babies to chemicals used in PVC toys.
This week in an interview for Denmark's leading newspaper Politiken, the Director of Toys "R" Us in Denmark confirmed that all PVC toys for children under three have been removed from their shelves because "of the risk to children from putting them (the products) in their mouths". Similarly, Toys " R" Us in Holland have withdrawn over 60 PVC toys. This follows a recent warning from the Dutch Consumer Health Inspectorate over phthalates - the chemicals used to make PVC soft. (1) Some of the products withdrawn include Mattel's Winnie the Pooh baby first soft blocks, and bear with honey jar, Bert soft body with vinyl head, Ernie's original rubber duckie, and Squeeze 'Ems Ernie. To prevent possible hazardous exposure to children, all Belgian Toys "R" Us shops have also withdrawn all soft PVC toys from their shops, following a recommendation by the Belgian Retailers Federation.
Other European retail chains that have taken action include FDB and Bilka (Denmark) and KF (Sweden) who have stopped selling soft PVC toys for children under three; major Dutch retailer Blokker which has stated all future orders for toys under three would specify they contain no PVC; and the largest Dutch retailer de Bijenkorf, which has removed known PVC toys from its shelves.
On 23-September-1997 Greenpeace Canada wrote to Toys R' Us Canada President Keith Van Beek urging similar action but to no avail. "Toys "R" Us has strong guidelines to protect the health of European children, but weak ones for Canadian children ," said Greenpeace campaigner Beverley Thorpe who monitors international action on the PVC hazard issue. "Canadians must not accept this dangerous double standard for hazardous PVC plastic products."
European Toys R' Us retailers have moved against PVC plastic (vinyl) children's products because they contain high levels of hazardous chemicals called phthalates and a European Union consumer alert was also sent to all European countries this summer. When children suck and chew on soft PVC toys, the phthalates can be extracted and ingested. Health effects in animals tested range from liver and kidney damage to reproductive abnormalities.
In September Greenpeace announced findings that soft PVC toys bought in Canada and 16 other countries contain up to 40 per cent of phthalates by weight. These chemicals are released from the toys at levels up to 40 times the European Union's tolerable daily intake (TDI). (2) Canada has set no TDI for phthalates in toys.
Last month Greenpeace Canada also released information about dangerous lead and cadmium levels found in PVC children's products. Three products bought at Toys "R" Us contained levels of lead seven to 360 times more than Health Canada's maximum level for lead content in products. (3) Yet Health Canada's current response to this crisis is to propose a "Strategy for Reducing Lead in Children's and Other Consumer Products" which would be entirely voluntary, rely principally on industry self-monitoring and would not come into full effect until 2001. (4)
"Health Canada has called for phasing out the use of lead where such uses pose unacceptable health hazards and where alternatives to lead are available, but they refuse to regulate" added Thorpe. "That is why we are asking toy retailers in Canada to be good citizens and seek safer alternatives to PVC plastic. Allowing children to ingest these toxic chemicals represents an unnecessary and avoidable risk."
Greenpeace is demanding that Toys"R" Us and other Canadian retailers immediately withdraw the sale of PVC toys. Retailers and manufacturers can easily avoid the use of vinyl - other safer materials exist not just for toys but for all uses of vinyl (5). In addition Greenpeace is demanding labelling for all plastic products to allow full consumer access to information. Lastly Greenpeace is recommending consumers check with store managers or product hotline numbers to confirm toys are PVC free. If not, consumers should return them to the retailer.
Editors' Notes
Greenpeace Research Laboratories, University of Exeter, "Determination of the Composition and Quantity of Pthalate Ester Additives in PVC Children's Toys, September 1997
Greenpeace report. Vinyl Children's Products Pose Lead and Cadmium Hazard, September, 1997.
Strategy for Reducing Lead in Children's and Other Products, Discussion Paper, Draft II, August 1997
Environment Canada. A Technical and Socio-Economic Evaluation of Options to the Use of Products Derived from the Chlor-Alkali Industry. Draft Report, July 1996.
For more information:
At the Toys "R' Us location: Beverley Thorpe, Morag Simpson, or Mary MacNutt: 416-505-1792 (cell) 416-597-8408;
For interviews in French please call Dr Matthew Bramley 514-933-0021 or 514-898-3587
(cell) PHOTOS AND VIDEO AVAILABLE.