HealthyToys.org includes test results for more than 1,500 toys and children’s products. This site is a first step in providing parents, grandparents, and others who care about children with the information they need to make better choices when purchasing toys and other children’s products. From the Web site:
Why We Need HealthyToys.org
The U.S. government doesn’t require full testing of chemicals before they are added to most consumer products, including children’s toys. And once they are on the market, the government almost never restricts their use, even in the face of new scientific evidence suggesting a health threat. Because children can be exposed to chemicals from many sources, and because the effects of some chemicals are cumulative, it is important to look at the whole picture concerning chemicals and children’s health. The law that’s supposed to do this, the Toxic Substances Control Act of 1976, is outdated, according to the non-partisan U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO). In 2005, the GAO found:
- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has limited data on existing chemicals including toxicity and exposure information;
- EPA lacks data to ensure that potential health and environmental risks of new chemicals are identified;
- Chemical companies are not required to develop and submit toxicity information to EPA unless EPA issues a rule;
- EPA has used its authority to require testing for fewer than 200 of the 62,000 chemicals in commerce since 1979;
- For “new” chemicals, EPA estimates that…only about 15 percent include health or safety test data; and
- For existing chemicals, only 5 chemical groups out of 62,000 have been restricted by EPA in 29 years.
