phthalates

Ask An Organic Mom

Just What Are Calico Critters Made From?

October 13, 2008 at 9:01AM By Alexandra Zissu | comment

Like most parents these days, I'm very concerned about the toys I bring into my home, and even more concerned about the toys other people bring us as well-intentioned gifts. We don't actually have very many toys (less is more...) but I try to mainly buy wood, largely unpainted, and from small companies that disclose where they manufacture their goods. If I'm in the market for something only available from a new-to-us brand, I always research it on HealthyToys.org as well as Consumer Reports before I shop. And I never, ever go into a toy store with an I-want-it-all-now toddler. If I happen to have her with me when I'm toy shopping, I explain very carefully that we're only in there for something specific, usually a gift for someone else. But, as with all of my best laid plans, they're just plans. We live in the world. Not everything is controllable.

The fact that my daughter has fallen madly in love with Calico Critters falls squarely in this realm. ...

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tags: parenting, health, toys, pvc, phthalates, greenwashing, safe toys, calico critters

Why the Ban on Phthalates Matters

August 21, 2008 at 4:10PM By Deirdre Dolan | comment

It won’t come in time for this year’s holiday shopping, but it’s pretty encouraging to see our Congress take a stand against the toxic chemicals in so many plastic kid toys (the same chemicals that have been obsolete in the EU for years). California led the way last year, the first state to ban even trace amounts of the plastic softening chemical in toys that’s been proven responsible for reproductive problems in boys and girls. According to the Washington Post, the growing scientific evidence that chewing on a plastic toy that includes a hormone-mimicking phthalate can cause problems was at last convincing enough to spur some legislative change.

President Bush opposed the ban, but as of January 2009 the shelves of Wal-Mart, Toys R Us and Babies R Us will be phthalate-free. According to the Washington Post story: “… House and Senate lawmakers agreed to permanently ban three types of phthalates from children's toys and to outlaw three other phthalates from products pending an extensive study of their health effects in children and pregnant women.”

I have an eight-month old daughter and everything goes in her mouth. I’ve never figured out the evolutionary purpose behind this, but am constantly replacing paper, wallets, keys and whatever else she swipes with things like wooden spoons and damp facecloths (sounds gross, but it’s been great for teething). ..

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tags: kids, parenting, plastic, nontoxic, toys, phthalates

Safe Alternatives to Baby Lotions and Wipes

March 6, 2008 at 2:15AM By Deirdre Dolan | comment

Phthalates (a group of synthetic chemicals that act as a softening agent) have been getting more bad press lately. A recent article in the February issue of Pediatrics about how infants are exposed to phthalates in baby lotions, cream and wipes got me thinking. I’m moving to an apartment with a bigger kitchen in a few weeks and I’ll be able to set up a changing area close to the kitchen sink so that I can hold my daughters under the faucet instead of using wipes. A French pediatrician in lower Manhattan named Michel Cohen recommends this to all his new moms, and a friend of mine said it’s worked for her. "He calls it 'ze waterfall,'" she said. "It gets them way cleaner than wipes, and cuts down on diaper rash." ...

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tags: parenting, lotions, baby wipes, nontoxic, baby, phthalates, brands

What's in Your Breast Milk? (and Is It Safe for Baby?)

February 21, 2008 at 9:15AM By Deirdre Dolan | comment

Phthalates are one of the most common pollutants out there and the more press they get the more paranoid I’m starting to feel about what they may or may not being doing to my young daughters. I can take some measures to keep them away from my 15 month-old – no rubber duckies in our tub – but after hearing about a recent study it’s actually the daughter who’s breastfeeding I’m really starting to worry about. ...

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