MNN - Mother Nature Network

Canada will put new regulations in to effect this June that will hopefully make toys a little safer for babies.

 

 

Health Canada announced that beginning in June six phthalates, a family a chemicals added to soft plastic toys and known to cause reproductive harm, will be banned from use in a number of children's products such as bath toys, squeezable or inflatable toys, teethers, rattles and vinyl bibs.  The agency targeted products that young children are known to put in their mouths.  

 

In addition, three of the six phthalates, known as DEEP, DBP and BBP, will be banned in all children's toys and childcare items, even those designed for older children.  

 

Canada's ban comes on the heels of a 2008 study by Health Canada in which the agency found the widespread use of phthalates in children's products.  According to their investigation, roughly three-quarters of the soft plastic toys and other products marketed for young children contained up to 39.9 per cent by weight of PVC. 

 

Canada is not alone in their new restrictions.  The European Union banned phthalates in 1999, and a similar ban went into effect in the U.S. in 2009.

 

[via The Vancouver Sun]