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Phthalates are known to cause health problems like allergies, diabetes, and weight problems in children, as well as urinary tract and testicular malformation in little boys, since they're an "anti-androgen" hormone disrupter.
Good news. Our federal government just announced new regulations limiting the amount of 6 different types of phthalates in children's toys and products to 1000 mg/kg --which means 0.1% or less of the overall product.
Phthalates (pronounced "tha-late-s"-soft 'th', ignore the 'ph'), are a family of chemicals; some are solvents in personal care products and some are plasticizers, rendering what would otherwise be hard plastic soft and flexible--like vinyl, soft PVC, and sometimes plastics with the number 3 on them.
Phthalates are known to cause health problems like allergies, diabetes, and weight problems in children, as well as urinary tract and testicular malformation in little boys, since they're an "anti-androgen" hormone disrupter.
The types of phthalates that have been limited are the most common ones: DBP, BBP and DEHP - limited to 1000 mg/kg in children's toys and products across the board. An additional three, DINP, DNOP and DIDP, have been limited to 1000 mg/kg in toys and products geared for children under 4 years old, especially the kinds of things they might put in their mouth.
This is an amazing leap forward. A few years ago, some children's toys contained 27% to 40% phthalates by weight. Now, these new regulations put Canada on par with Europe and the United States, at one tenth percent per kilogram.
It took a while, as Canada first announced their intent for these regs in 2009 and held an extensive consultation period, but smart manufacturers and retailers at the time decided to get ahead of the game by ceasing to use phthalates in their products. So while there may still be some kids' products on shelves containing phthalates, there are far fewer than there ever used to be, and they'll be gone by June 2011, when the new regulations come into force.
NUPGE
The National Union of Public and General Employees (NUPGE) is one of Canada's largest labour organizations with over 340,000 members. Our mission is to improve the lives of working families and to build a stronger Canada by ensuring our common wealth is used for the common good. NUPGE
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