Over 5000 children’s products contain toxic chemicals linked to
cancer, hormone disruption and reproductive problems, including the
toxic metals, cadmium, mercury and antimony, as well as phthalates and
solvents. A new report by the Washington Toxics Coalition and Safer
States
reveals the results of manufacturer reporting to the Washington State Department of Ecology.
Makers of kids’ products reported using 41 of the 66 chemicals
identified by WA Ecology as a concern for children’s health. Major
manufacturers who reported using the chemicals in their products include
Walmart, Gap, Gymboree, Hallmark, H & M and others. They use these
chemicals in an array of kids’ products, including clothing, footwear,
toys, games, jewelry, accessories, baby products, furniture, bedding,
arts and crafts supplies and personal care products. Besides exposing
kids in the products themselves, some of these chemicals, for example
toxic flame retardants, build up in the environment and in the food we
eat.
Examples of product categories reported to contain toxic chemicals include:
- Hallmark party hats containing cancer-causing arsenic
- Graco car seats containing the toxic flame retardant TBBPA (tetrabromobisphenol A)
- Claire’s cosmetics containing cancer-causing formaldehyde
- Walmart dolls containing hormone-disrupting bisphenol A
The chemical reports are required under Washington State’s Children’s
Safe Products Act of 2008. A searchable database of chemical use
reports filed with the Washington State Department of Ecology is
available at
http://www.ecy.wa.gov/programs/swfa/cspa/search.html.
Like Washington, the Minnesota Department of Health has published a list or
priority chemicals
in children’s products. Eight of the nine chemicals on this list are
also on the Washington list. The nine priority chemicals are lead,
cadmium, bisphenol A, formaldehyde, two brominated flame retardants and
three phthalates. However, in Minnesota, manufacturers are not required
to report if they use a priority chemical in a children’s product—so
both states agencies and consumers are in the dark when it comes to
these chemicals. Last month Minnesota’s Senate Commerce Committee voted
down the Toxic Free Kids Act of 2013, a bill that would have required
such reporting.
Minnesota can take a lesson from the Washington experience.
Manufacturers were able to produce this information without undue burden
and yes these chemicals are in products our kids are chewing on,
touching and inhaling every day! It’s time for Minnesota to follow
Washington’s lead and require manufacturers to submit the same type of
data. I urge the Minnesota Legislature to come back in 2014 and
pass the Toxic Free Kids Act.
© 2013 Institute for Trade and Agricultural Policy (IATP)
Kathleen Schuler, MPH, is a senior policy analyst in the Food and
Health Program at the Institute for Agricultural and Trade Policy,
which advocates for policies that protect human health and the
environment from the toxic chemicals that contaminate our food system
and our bodies. Kathleen is also Co-Director of Healthy Legacy, a
Minnesota-based campaign that advocates for public policies and business
practices that focus on safer products and safer production methods.
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