ENVIRONMENTAL group EcoWaste Coalition pressed manufacturers, importers and sellers to follow the government’s regulation on banning phthalates in plastic toys due to health risks amid the holiday shopping rush.
“Despite the 11-year-old rule restricting phthalates in toys, we still find some soft plastic toys with high phthalate content in blatant violation of the law,”
EcoWaste Coalition National Coordinator Aileen A. Lucero said in a statement on Monday.
The group also called on consumers to examine the toys sold in the market to protect children against phthalate exposure.
Administrative Order No. 2009-0005-A issued by the Department of Health on Dec. 14, 2011 prohibits the selling, distribution in commerce, or importation of any children’s toy that has more than 0.1 percent of di-(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate, dibutyl phthalate (DBP) or benzyl butyl phthalate (BBP) in the Philippines.
The order also banned diisononyl phthalate (DINP), diisodecyl phthalate (DIDP) and di-n-octyl phthalate (DnOP) in concentrations exceeding 0.1 percent in toys that can be placed in a child’s mouth.
“Toy manufacturers, importers, distributors and sellers must see to it that toys are fully compliant to quality and safety standards, free of hazardous substances such as endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs), and duly labeled to reduce health risks and uphold children’s right to health,” Ms. Lucero said.
According to Geminn Louis C. Apostol, environmental health specialist at the Ateneo School of Medicine and Public Health, exposure to phthalates and other EDCs could affect the essential functions of the endocrine system and cause hormonal imbalances, which may lead to reduced intellectual capacity, reproductive disorders, weakened immune system, and other behavioral and health issues. — Revin Mikhael D. Ochave
