The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) will soon issue a final rule on the presence of phthalates in most products intended for use by children and infants.
According to a press release issued in October, the new rule will ban children’s toys and child care articles that contain more than 0.1 percent of any of the following five phthalate chemicals:
- diisononyl phthalate (DINP)
- di-n-pentyl phthalate (DPENP)
- di-n-hexyl phthalate (DHEXP)
- dicyclohexyl phthalate (DCHP)
- diisobutyl phthalate (DIBP)
The CPSC’s new rule is based on recommendations of the agency’s Chronic Hazard Advisory Panel (CHAP) which has determined that the five named chemicals can adversely impact male reproductive development. The restrictions will take effect 180 days after the rule’s publication in the Federal Register.
The five phthalates are in addition to three phthalates already prohibited in children’s toys and child care articles under the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 (CPSIA). Those three phthalates are:
- di-(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP)
- dibutyl phthalate (DBP)
- benzyl butyl phthalate (BBP)
