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New Database on Toxic Chemicals in Everyday Products Reveals Lead, Arsenic & Hazardous Flame Retardants in School Supplies, Children’s Products, Pet Products, Cars, and More

Michigan Independent Toy Retailers Call on State Senate to Pass Children’s Safe Products Act

Ann Arbor-based Ecology Center Leads National Movement Toward Safer Products Through Launch of HealthyStuff.org

 

September 16, 2009

 

(Berkley, MI) Backed by a 25-foot inflatable rubber ducky and standing with a leading Michigan independent toy retailer, medical expert on children’s environmental health, concerned parents and partner environmental and health organizations, the Ann Arbor-based Ecology Center released new results today on over 900 common consumer products tested for toxic chemicals including lead, cadmium, mercury, bromine, chlorine (PVC) and arsenic.  Using an XRF analyzer, researchers at the Ecology Center analyzed the ingredients of pet products, cars, women’s handbags, children’s car seats, toys, and more, creating the largest database of independent tests of toxic chemicals in consumer goods.  

The results can be found on the user-friendly website: www.HealthyStuff.org.  Visitors can look up products by manufacturer, brand, or product type and easily generate lists of highly rated and poorly rated products.  HealthyStuff.org tested for chemicals based on their toxicity, persistence and tendency to build up in people and the environment.  Such chemicals have been linked to reproductive problems, developmental and learning disabilities, liver toxicity, and cancer.

“The more we test, the more we find that the presence of toxic chemicals is widespread in everyday consumer products,” said Mike Shriberg, Ph.D., Policy Director at the Ecology Center.  “It should not be the responsibility of public health advocates to
test these products.  Product manufacturers and legislators must take the lead and replace dangerous substances with safe alternatives.”

Fortunately, in Michigan, 14 of the leading independent toy retailers are stepping up to call for passage of the Children’s Safe Products Act (HB 4763-69), which requires manufacturers and importers which use the small subset of chemicals known to be highly hazardous (“chemicals of highest concern”) to publicly disclose (as of 2012) which of these chemicals they use in children’s products sold in Michigan.  Parents and other consumers would have easy access to this information through the Michigan Department of Community Health.  The legislation easily passed the Michigan House in May but has been stalled in Senator Tom George’s Health Policy Committee.

“With the passage of this law, independent toy retailers and manufacturers will have a competitive advantage since we already provide safe, high quality toys without the use of the most hazardous chemicals,” said Jack Parish, CEO of the Doll Hospital & Toy Soldier Shop in Berkley, a leader in the movement for safer children’s products in Michigan and throughout the country.  “This legislation would encourage Michigan-manufactured products, which tend to have fewer chemicals of highest concern compared to imports.”

The letter released today from the leading independent toy retailers, addressed to Senator George and Majority Leader Bishop, reads in
part: “As owners of independent toy stores and manufacturers in Michigan, we strongly urge you to support and quickly move the Children’s Safe Products Act (HB 4763-4769).  As retailers and small manufacturers that provide high quality children’s products, we strongly support a system of ensuring that large toy manufacturers disclose their use of the “worst of the worst” chemicals… We should have a right to know about whether children’s products we are selling have the most toxic chemicals.  Parents deserve this right as well…” (Full letter as well as factsheet on the bills available upon request.)

“Learning and developmental disabilities have risen dramatically the last few decades – at tremendous cost to the state and our children’s quality of life,” said Dr. Michael Harbut, MD, MPH, FCCP, Chief of the Center for Occupational & Environmental Medicine & Co-Director of the National Center for Vermiculite and Asbestos-Related Cancers at the Karmanos Cancer Institute.  “We must protect vulnerable children from these unnecessary exposures to known toxic chemicals.”

For the past several years, the Ecology Center has spearheaded groundbreaking research on toxic chemicals in toys, cars, and children’s car seats at HealthyToys.org and HealthyCar.org.  HealthyStuff.org is a compilation of all of these findings and more. 

New Key Findings From HealthyStuff.org:

  • Pet Products – HealthyStuff.org tested over 400 pet products, including beds, chew toys, collars and leashes.  Since there are no government standards for hazardous chemicals in pet products, it is not surprising that alarming levels of toxic chemicals were found.  One quarter of all pet products had detectable levels of lead, including seven percent with levels higher than 300 parts per million (ppm) – the current Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) standard for lead in children’s products. 

 

  • Automobiles – HealthyStuff.org tested nearly 700 new and used vehicles, from 1980 to 2010 model year vehicles.  The US-made Pontiac G5 and Chevy Cobalt rated best overall 2009 vehicles.  Levels of some chemicals found in vehicles are 5-10 times higher than in homes or offices.  Since the average American spends more than 1.5 hours in their car every day, this can be a major source of toxic chemical exposure.
  • Children’s Car Seats – Infant and child car seats contain chemical additives that can have adverse health effects on babies and young children.  Over half (58%) of car seats contain one or more hazardous chemicals, including PVC, brominated flame retardants and heavy metals.  Three examples of car seats that had none of the chemicals tested for are: Baby Trend Flex-Loc; the Graco Nautilus 3-in-1 Car Seat; and the Graco Turbo Booster.  Despite the toxic chemicals, it is vital to use a car seat for your child because they do save lives.

 

  • Back-to-School Products – HealthyStuff.org screened over 60 common back-to-school supplies, including backpacks, pencil cases, binders and lunchboxes.  Far too many of these supplies are made of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and 22% contained detectable levels of lead. Overall nearly 90% of back-to-school supplies contained one or more chemicals of concern. 
  • Women’s Handbags – HealthyStuff.org tested over 100 women’s handbags and detected lead in over 75% of the bags analyzed.  Sixty-four percent (64%) of the bags contained lead over 300 ppm – the CPSC limit for lead
    in children’s products. Over half of the handbags contain more than 1,000 ppm lead.

 

In response to increasing consumer demand for safer products, Senator Frank Lautenberg and Representative Bobby Rush are expected to introduce a new bill this Congressional session to reform the outdated Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) – the current federal law for regulating chemicals.   These reforms would phase out the most dangerous chemicals from the manufacturing process; require industry to take responsibility for the safety of their products; and use the best science to protect vulnerable groups.  To date the EPA has required testing on only about 200 of the more than 80,000 chemicals that have been on the market since the law was passed 33
years ago.

 

The Ecology Center is a Michigan-based environmental organization that works for a safe and healthy environment where people live, work, and play. The Michigan Network for Children's Environmental Health is a Network of health professionals and environmental groups dedicated to a safe and less toxic world for Michigan's children. To learn more about the Network, please visit: www.mnceh.org

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For more information, please contact:

Gen Howe, Ecology Center: 734-761-3186 x115

Mike Shriberg, Ecology Center: 734-761-3186 x108