NON-TOXIC CHILDREN'S TOYS

Many of our children's toys are manufactured with materials which, if found in a landfill, would be considered toxic waste.

Many toys (including Barbie dolls) are made of polyvinyl chloride (PVC), a chlorinated plastic whose production and disposal creates large amounts of highly toxic wastes. More importantly, PVC requires the use of plasticizing chemicals called phthalates to keep it flexible and soft. Recent studies have clearly shown that the phthalate plasticizers in PVC toys are easily transferred to the bodies of the children who play with them when those children put the toys in their mouths or inhale the minute amounts of volatile phthalate fumes PVC products routinely emit.

This news is troubling because recent studies have linked exposure to phthalates to reproductive and developmental disorders, cancer, and organ damage. According to Greenpeace, children are exposed to a variety of these plasticizers via vinyl childcare products like toys. Product testing by researchers showed that the phthalate DINP, for example, is being used in children's products at levels as high as 33% of some products' total weight. Although the Consumer Products Safety Commission has requested that toy manufacturers cease using polyvinyl chloride, many PVC toys are still on the market.

The best option is to purchase non-plastic toys. That may be seen by some parents as unrealistic, given today's toy market. If you must buy plastic toys, look for toys made from polyethylene or polypropylene, both of which are non-chlorinated.

Some puzzles and games designed for young children contain beads of mercury, which move about a surface enclosed in plastic. Mercury is extremely poisonous. In fact, lethal doses can be absorbed through the skin, should the toy break. If possible, these toys should be avoided.

From http://www.seventhgeneration.com/site/pp.asp?c=coIHKTMHF&b=83250#10