US Senate eyes national ban on phthalates

The Chamber said that a pending Senate amendment to ban phthalates use in children’s products “is not scientifically justified and would force manufacturers to use more expensive, less tested alternatives”.

The Senate is considering a bill, S-2663, to expand the authority and budget for the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) to ensure that end-user products, especially children’s toys and feeding devices, are free of health risks.

The “CPSC Reform Act” was triggered in part by last year’s widespread scare among consumers about lead paint contamination of children’s toys imported from China.

A proposed amendment to the bill would would institute a nationwide ban on the use of phthalates as softeners and other additives to plastic products that would be used by children in play or feeding.

The amendment in large measure would duplicate a California state law passed in October last year that bars the manufacture, sale and distribution of child-care products containing di-(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP), dibutyl phthalate (DBP), benzyl butyl phthalate (BBP), diisononyl phthalate (DINP), diisodecyl phthalate (DIDP) or di-n-octyl phthalate (DnOP) in concentrations exceeding 0.1%.

The California statute, which took effect on 1 January, applies to all products “designed or intended by the manufacturer to facilitate sleep, relaxation, or the feeding of children, or to help children with sucking or teething”.

The California statute was criticised by US chemical industry officials who charged that the action was the “unsound result of fear politics” and that it puts at risk the state’s long-term plans to address chemical health and safety issues “in a rational and science-based way”.

Earlier this year a top CPSC official said the commission had no plans to institute a national phthalates ban similar to the California statute.

Saying that studies by the CPSC and other federal regulatory agencies have concluded that phthalates in children’s products are proven safe, the US Chamber warned that a phthalates ban would subject consumers to unproven alternatives and expose manufacturers to additional safety and legal liability concerns.

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