Brussels 7 July 2000. Greenpeace welcomed yesterday's European Paliament plenary vote to permanently ban the use of all phthalate-softners in all soft PVC toys and childcare articles which can be put in the mouth by children. This vote should pave the way for such a ban EU- wide; a ban which so far has been opposed by a few Member States such as the United Kingdom, Spain and the Netherlands, against a majority of countries that have already taken national action to protect small children from such PVC products.
The Parliament voted on a proposal by the European Commission to harmonise EU legislation governing phthalates in soft PVC toys and childcare articles for children under three. Members of the European Parliament decided to significantly strengthen the Commission's proposal, going well beyond what the most progressive Member States have decided so far. The plenary demanded that all phthalates in all soft PVC toys and childcare articles which can be put into the mouth be banned and that phthalate-containing soft PVC toys and childcare articles for children between the ages of three and six carry a health warning label.
"We are glad to see the clear stance of the Parliamentarians - it's babies first, and not the profits of the petrochemical industry", said Axel Singhofen, Greenpeace EU Toxics Advisor. "The message is simple - toys should not contain hazardous substances" (2).
Furthermore, the European Commission accepted the demand of the European Parliament to take account of children's exposure to phthalates from other soft PVC products such as PVC flooring and packaging in the review of the provisions, and to study other PVC products which may expose people to risks, especially PVC articles in health care.
"The European Parliament and the European Commission have understood that phthalates in PVC toys are just the tip of the iceberg -the dangers of soft PVC lurk everywhere: from PVC flooring and PVC packaging to PVC health care products", said Axel Singhofen.
The commitment of the Commission to study the direct health dangers from soft PVC products comes on the heels of recently published Commission studies on the problems of PVC waste disposal. These studies had found i.a. that incineration of PVC in most cases leaves behind more hazardous waste than was actually put into the incinerator, that softeners will be released when PVC is landfilled and that recycling will not contribute significantly to the management of PVC post- consumer wastes in the next decades (3).
The issue will now go to Council which has to decide on a Common Position. The Portuguese Presidency had tried to push for the approach favoured by industry, which is to regulate soft PVC toys via limits on the migration of the hazardous softeners. This approach had failed to get support, as the many countries that have already taken restrictive action did not want to compromise their national level of health protection. This approach was also clearly rejected by the European Parliament.
"The ball is now in the court of the Council - we call on the incoming French Presidency not to play with the health of children and to adopt the position of the European Parliament", said Axel Singhofen.
Notes to editors:
(1) Austria, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Greece, Italy, Sweden have adopted national bans; Belgium announced a national ban.
(2) Soft PVC toys contain large amounts of hazardous softeners (10- 40% of the final product weight). These substances are known to cause damage to liver, kidney and testicles in animals and are known to leach from the toys, especially when a young child chews and sucks on them. They represent a completely unnecessary source of exposure to hazardous chemicals during a particularly vulnerable phase in life, given that toys made from alternative materials which do not require the addition of softeners (e.g. other plastics, rubber, textiles) have been widely available for many years.
