TOY INDUSTRY DEBATES FUTURE OF PVC AS EUROPE PREPARES RESTRICTIONS
Greenpeace confronts manufacturers at annual meeting.

1 June 1998

Toronto -- Greenpeace activists confronted international toy industry executives today, demanding the withdrawal of PVC plastic toys from store shelves. During the confrontation Greenpeace's "Toxic Toy Patrol" returned a large barrel of hazardous polyvinyl chloride (PVC or vinyl) toys to participants attending the annual meeting of the International Council of Toy Industries (ICTI) at the King Edward Hotel in downtown Toronto. A hotly debated agenda item at the meeting is the future of PVC toys, which pose a threat to children's health because of the hazardous chemical additives they contain.

Companies such as the Lego Group, Giochi Preziosi of Italy and Novatex in Germany, have pledged to phase out PVC in its products, while others - the U.S.-based Mattel and Hasbro - are working to avert any restrictions, such as those currently under debate in the European Union (EU). As early as June 3, the European Commission is poised to agree to prepare an emergency ban on all PVC teething rings containing certain additives used to soften the products.

"PVC toys release hazardous additives. Greenpeace calls on all toy manufacturers to follow the lead of companies such as Lego and act now to put children's health first," said Dr. Matthew Bramley, Greenpeace's toxics campaigner. "Low cost alternatives are already on the shelves today," Bramley added.

The hazards of soft PVC toys were revealed more than a year ago by Danish authorities who recommended the withdrawal of three PVC teething rings which released hazardous additives known as phthalates. Independent laboratory tests on animals ingesting the additives have shown health effects ranging from liver and kidney damage to reproductive abnormalities. Soft PVC toys typically contain up to 40 per cent phthalates by weight. The hazardous additives are released when children suck, chew or bite on toys. Examples include: Safety 1st teethers, soft blocks by the Montreal based Ritvik Toys, and Tyco Baby Sesame Street Squeeze Ems.

Recommendations for voluntary withdrawals of soft PVC baby toys have also been made by the Dutch, German and Belgian Health Authorities and a legal ban on baby toys containing softeners such as phthalates has been agreed to in Austria.

On April 24, 1998, the EU Scientific Committee on Toxicity, Ecotoxicity and the Environment concluded that PVC teething rings can leach up to ten times what is considered acceptable for some phthalates. These are the same additives that Greenpeace, in its global survey of soft PVC toys released in September 1997, found to be most frequently used in soft PVC toys, and the ones used at the highest concentrations.

In Canada, Health Canada's Product Safety Bureau has yet to take a position on phthalates in soft PVC toys and refuses to even require the products in question be labelled. On April 30 in the House of Commons, a private member's motion from Yvon Godin (Acadie-Bathurst) calling for labelling won support from all political parties, including 11 Liberal backbenchers. However the motion was defeated by the government's majority. Health Minister's Allan Rock's parliamentary secretary said consumers would not understand the label.

The entire life cycle of PVC plastic is a polluting process. Its production involves highly toxic precursors and generates hazardous emissions and wastes. When burned in accidental fires or waste incinerators, PVC is a significant source of dioxin and secondary hazardous wastes.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:

Mary MacNutt, Dr. Matthew Bramley, or Lisa Finaldi: 416- 271-8408 (cell) or 514-898-3587 (cell) or 416-597-8408.