Canada limits phthalates in kids' products to less than 0.1% !

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Good news. Our federal government just announced new regulations limiting the amount of 6 different types of phthalates in children's toys and products to 1000 mg/kg --which means 0.1% or less of the overall product.

Most of you are likely aware that phthalates are bad, especially if you're reading this blog or receive our Toxic Nation e-newsletter (you can subscribe to it here), but for those of you who aren't familiar with the word, it's pronounced "tha-late-s" (soft th, ignore the ph), and they're a family of chemicals; some are solvents in personal care products (which is what our Just Beautiful campaign is about), and some are plasticizers, rendering what would otherwise be hard plastic soft and flexible--like vinyl, soft PVC, and sometimes plastics with the number 3 on them.

Thing is, phthalates are known to cause health problems like allergies, diabetes, and weight problems in children, as well as urinary tract and testicular malformation in little boys, since they're an "anti-androgen" hormone disrupter.

For those of you that may be curious about which phthalates have been limited, they're the most common ones: DBP, BBP and DEHP have been limited to 1000 mg/kg in children's toys and products across the board, while DINP, DNOP and DIDP have been limited to 1000 mg/kg in toys and products geared for children under 4 years old, especially the kinds of things they might put in their mouth.

This is an amazing leap forward, considering that when Rick (our Executive Director) was doing the research for his book (Slow Death by Rubber Duck), some years ago, he tested some of his children's toys and was shocked to find out that two of them contained 27% and 40% phthalates by weight, respectively. Now, these new regulations put Canada on par with Europe and the United States.

It took a while, as Canada first announced their intent for these regs in 2009 and held an extensive consultation period, but smart manufacturers and retailers at the time decided to get ahead of the game by ceasing to use phthalates in their products. So while there may still be some kids' products on shelves containing phthalates, there are far fewer than there ever used to be, and they'll be gone by June 2011, when the new regulations come into force.

In the meantime, if you are a concerned parent wondering what to do: if your child has vinyl or soft plastic toys (they might have the number 3 on them or have a strong "plastic" smell), and especially if your child is chewing, sucking or otherwise mouthing such a toy, you may want to consider taking it out of the toy rotation, and can call the product's manufacturer to obtain more information. While older children may not chew on things, they may make themselves a sandwich after handling a product with phthalates, which rub off on hands because they don't bond well to the plastics, so washing hands often is always a good idea (with non-antibacterial soap, of course).

(Photo courtesy of Flickr user "sharkabayte")