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« Sky-high ammonia levels in Des Moines, Iowa | Main | Mixed Greens 007: Congress investigates industry, plus PFOA and EPA's bad plan »

April 7, 2008

New toxic toy law not exactly cause for celebration

Ed. note: This post is by EWG's social media intern Akua, who gets to spend most of her time playing around on MySpace and reading blogs -- lucky woman.

Last week, Washington Gov. Chris Gregoire (partially) signed into law what is being praised by some as the “toughest toy law in the US." I know I should be euphoric but all I feel is overwhelming sadness. It’s the year 2008 and the citizens of the world’s greatest power have finally achieved a ban on three chemicals that we have known to be toxic for years. In one U.S state. I don’t know about you but the gravity of the situation doesn’t make me want to jump for joy. It makes me want to cry.

The Children’s Safe Products Act is set to go into effect in January 2009 and will ban the manufacture, sale, or distribution of toys and cosmetics that contain lead, cadmium, or phthalates and are intended for children under 12. A helpful provision in the bill states that new high priority chemicals can be added to the list if, through bio-monitoring studies, they are found to be present in umbilical cord blood or human tissue. EWG seems to be a step ahead of them on this, since we found 287 toxic chemicals in umbilical cord blood several years ago. Perhaps we should save them some time by forwarding them the list?

What is it going to take for our nation to come together and pass a comprehensive law to protect those who cannot speak for themselves? Gov. Gregoire should be given credit for (partially) signing the bill. But she still dropped the ball when she vetoed portions that would allow the public to make more informed decisions about their purchases. As it stands, she has proposed changes to the bill that appear to limit public accessibility to information about the toxic chemical ingredients in toys. Specifically, she took issue with parts of the bill that called for the construction of a website that would provide consumers with up-to-date information about which products contained toxic ingredients.

This was a moment when she could have sent a decisive message to other legislatures in the nation that the legitimate concerns of the people should always come before those of business. She could have encouraged other states to begin a crackdown on industries that profit while our precious children are being poisoned with the toys we purchase for them.

Now, I'm not saying she's selling out. But just as the toy industry would want your child to do with that shiny “learning tool” (the one with the computer chip made with toxic lead solder), let's connect the dots:

Gregoire has opposed the removal of the electronic component of educational toys that are manufactured with toxic chemicals because of their positive benefits. Are we to understand that it is acceptable to give a healthy child an educational toy that contains chemicals that may leach into his body and interfere with his normal intellectual development? Maybe I needed to play a bit more with those educational toys when I was a child, because that rationale does not make any sense to me.

While all in all this is a step forward for consumer safety, it is sobering in that it reveals just how much more must be done to win the battle to ensure the proper protection of the children of this nation.

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