Lauren Timm/MEDILL
The Center for Health, Environment & Justice tested 60 toys for toxic chemicals as part of its “Toxic Toys ‘R’ Us” study.
WASHINGTON — As Black Friday approaches and holiday shopping reaches full swing, parents are rushing out to toy stores to pick up the latest action figures and play sets. But what they might not realize is that toxic chemicals may be lurking under the holiday wrapping paper in the form of PVC-laden toys and toy packaging.
The Center for Health, Environment & Justice released a report, “Toxic Toys ‘R’ Us,” on Thursday. It was conducted in cooperation with the Teamsters Office of Consumer Affairs.
Scientists tested 60 randomly selected toys from Toys “R” Us and Babies “R” Us shelves this fall. According to the results, 43 of those toys tested positive for chlorine, indicating they likely contained PVC (polyvinyl chloride). Only one of those toys had a PVC warning label on its package.
“This report should serve as a wakeup call to all parents and grandparents this holiday season who look forward, as I do, to seeing the delight in children’s faces as they open their Christmas presents,” said Thomas C. Keegel of the Teamsters Union.
The Teamsters and CHEJ previously worked together to protest Toys “R” Us selling Toy Story 3 toys made with PVC. At the time, Variety linked the action to union disputes between the Teamsters and Toys “R” Us owner Kohlberg Kravis Roberts over two KKR-owned U.S. Foodservice centers.
PVC is a plastic that the National Commission of Inquiry into Toxic Toys has linked to learning disabilities, behavior problems, certain cancers and reproductive and developmental effects in infants, children and adults.
But the Toy Industry Association, a national trade organization, disagrees. “There’s simply no credible scientific evidence that any child has ever been harmed by the presence of PVC in children’s toys,” said Stacy Leistner of the TIA. He cited a 50-year period of safe use in PVC toys as proof that U.S. federally-mandated standards for toy safety are the most rigorous in the world.
“Quite honestly,” Leistner said, “we see on a regular basis, groups that find this time of year when parents are paying particular attention to shopping for toys to needlessly frighten parents and raise awareness of their key issues. We find very often that the claims made in these reports are not substantiated.”
CHEJ said the report targets Toys “R” Us because of a pledge made in 2008 by the retailer in response to nationwide toy recalls due to high lead levels. Lois Gibbs, CHEJ executive director, said Toys “R” Us promised to reduce levels of PVC in the toys it carries. The study shows that lead levels in the store’s toys did in fact go down.
“However, according to the findings of this investigation,” Gibbs said, “it now appears the company and its suppliers may simply have substituted one toxic additive, lead, for another, organotins.” Gibbs said organotins have been linked to problems with the central nervous system, skin, liver, immune system and in some cases have even been linked to obesity.
Toys “R” Us, which declined to release official comment, is meeting all federal regulations in terms of PVC levels and labeling. But Mike Schade of the CHEJ said federal laws are failing to protect American families. “We’re asking them to go above and beyond the regulations,” he said. “Unfortunately, the regulations are not working.”
Schade said the real changes need to take place at toy manufacturing plants, but Toys “R” Us has a responsibility as a major international chain to make changes that might trickle down to manufacturers and other retailers. “We’re hoping that Toys ‘R’ Us can use their influence as the leading global specialty retailer of toys to clean up the global toxic supply chain,” he said.
The authors of the study are also calling on the federal government to require stricter testing of chemical levels in children’s products. They plan to present their study findings to Congress to promote greater consumer awareness.