CPSC Ruling Bans Five More Phthalates From Children’s Products

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) has issued a final rule prohibiting children’s toys and child care articles containing more than 0.1 percent of certain phthalate chemicals. The five chemicals in the ruling join three additional phthalates identified in The Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 (CPSIA) to bring to eight the total number of phthalates under these usage restrictions.

Phthalates are used to make vinyl and other plastics soft and pliable. Ingestion of certain phthalates can have harmful health effects on children. The rule will take effect 180 days after publication in the Federal Register.

The commission’s final rule bans children’s toys and child care articles containing more than 0.1 percent of five specific phthalate chemicals—diisononyl phthalate (DINP), di-n-pentyl phthalate (DPENP), di-n-hexyl phthalate (DHEXP), dicyclohexyl phthalate (DCHP); and diisobutyl phthalate (DIBP). The rule is based on recommendations from a Chronic Hazard Advisory Panel (CHAP), which examined the health effects of phthalates in children’s toys and child care articles. Based on the CHAP’s report, CPSC has determined that these chemicals cause harmful effects on male reproductive development.

Congress had permanently prohibited children’s toys and child care articles containing concentrations of more than 0.1 percent of three other phthalates in the CPSIA of 2008—di-(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP), dibutyl phthalate (DBP) and benzyl butyl phthalate (BBP).

The CPSIA also established an interim prohibition on children’s toys that can be placed in a child’s mouth as well as child care articles containing concentrations of more than 0.1 percent of diisononyl phthalate (DINP), di-n-octyl (DNOP) or diisodecyl (DIDP). The commission’s rule makes the interim prohibition regarding DINP permanent and expands it to cover “all children’s toys and child care articles” containing concentrations of more than 0.1 percent of DINP.

The final rule removes the interim prohibition regarding DNOP and DIDP. CPSC has determined that these phthalates do not cause adverse effects on male reproductive development, and other risks attendant to their use are low.

Children’s toys are defined by the CPSIA as products designed or intended by the manufacturer for play by a child 12 years old or younger. Child care articles are consumer products designed or intended by the manufacturer to facilitate sleep or the feeding of children age three and younger, or to help children with sucking or teething.