Plastics in toys can be dangerous.
Posted December 17th, 2009 by Erin KaeseThe potential danger of chemicals leaching from various plastics is an ongoing concern. We recently posted a very long, but through, article about which plastics to avoid. Read it here.
Pitch it! #3 is BAD
PVC (#3 in terms of plastic type) is commonly used for toys and contains phthalates. There has been tremendous research linking phthalates to various health problems. However, many of the studies are small and have not been totally accepted by the general scientific community.
HealthDay reported today on a small study potentially linking breast growth in boys to the chemicals in plastics.
The article concludes that:
“Larger trials still need to be conducted to confirm or refute the findings. But for now, parents can decrease their exposure to phthalates, in particular by avoiding plastic products labeled with the No. 3, Sathyanarayana said.”
Since the holidays are upon us and most children will be receiving new toys, now is a good time to get rid of toys that are made with PVC. Again to learn more about PVC and other plastics, take a look at our previous post.