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Not toying around: Congress OKs bill to ban chemicals in some products
Posted on 2008-Aug-5 at 04:27 - Post Comment
chemical The bill — approved by the Senate Thursday night and theHouse of Representatives Tuesday — follows a rising tide ofpublic concern over product safety, spurred by recalls of 45million children's toys and products last year and growing worryover chemicals in plastic. The measure, which passed with"veto-proof" majorities, now goes to President Bush, who has notthreatened to reject it. The bill virtually eliminates lead in children's toys and bans sixtypes of chemicals, called phthalates, that have hormone-likeeffects. Lead can cause both brain damage and behavioral problemsin children. A number of animal studies and a few in humans havelinked phthalates to early puberty in girls, genital defects andreduced testosterone production in boys and impaired sperm qualityin men. The bill requires that all toys be tested for dangerous chemicalsbefore they're sold — a big change over the current practice,in which untested toys are sold and recalled if necessary, saysRachel Weintraub of the Consumer Federation of America. Outsidecompanies will perform the tests.The law also boosts the budget of the Consumer Product SafetyCommission from $80 million to $118 million in 2010 and $136million five years later. The commission will be required to set upa website where consumers can both register complaints and readreports posted by others.The American Chemistry Council, which represents industry, supportsstrengthening the Consumer Product Safety Commission, but opposesthe ban on phthalates, which it says are safe. "Our children's health and safety is too important to rush throughproduct restrictions without understanding their fullconsequences," said Sharon Kneiss, vice president of products, in astatement. "Restricting phthalates from children's products, whenthey have been deemed safe for use in those products by the CPSC,will do nothing to protect children's health."
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