Archived Press Releases

September 2004

The European plasticiser industry is extremely concerned by today's decision of the EU Competitiveness Council to adopt a Dutch proposal which would ban the use of three phthalate plasticisers in toys and childcare items and would restrict the use of three others. The decision ignores a Scientific risk assessment and is a misuse of the precautionary principle.

August 2004

A Swedish study, conducted by a group of scientists who claim to have found a link between asthma and the use of phthalate plasticisers, is flawed says the plasticiser industry.

July 2004

Scientific experts have given a reassurance to parents that phthalate plasticisers used to make Scoubidou strings* are extremely unlikely to be endangering children's health.

There is absolutely no evidence to suggest that adults or children are at any risk from wearing flip-flops. The two phthalate plasticisers most commonly used are DEHP and DINP, both of which have undergone independent scientific risk assessments. Those risk assessments took into consideration phthalate exposure via skin contact and have concluded that there was no risk to human health.

November 2003

It’s that time of year again – toy season. And along with the bustle of holiday toy shopping comes the perennial burst of news releases, some of them quite alarmist, warning consumers of certain toy safety hazards. We expect that publicity about phthalates – the plasticizer used to make vinyl toys soft and pliable – may be incomplete, misleading or even flatly wrong. And that is not only an industry opinion. The low risk posed by the phthalates in toys is affirmed by scientific reports issued earlier this year by U. S. and European regulatory agencies.

October 2003

EU member state experts have confirmed that the health of people in general is not being endangered by the use of one of the world’s most commonly used plasticisers, di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP). The experts, representing all 15 EU member states at a technical meeting⁽¹⁾ held in Italy to discuss the EU risk assessment for DEHP, agreed that the exposure of the general population is well below (at least 700 times) levels at which their health might be put at risk. Therefore no risk reduction measures are needed for the general population.

May 2003

Une étude sur la présence de produits chimiques dans la poussière en milieu domestique a confirmé que la concentration de phtalates trouvée dans ces poussières ne présente aucun risque pour la santé humaine. Contrairement aux allégations de Greenpeace, selon lesquelles les concentrations trouvées sur des prélèvements faits dans un échantillon de 100 maisons en Angleterre seraient préoccupantes, il s’avère en réalité que ces concentrations satisfont largement aux normes de sécurité officiellement reconnues, même dans les cas extrêmes.

A study on the levels of chemicals found in household dust has confirmed that those of phthalate plasticisers pose no risk to human health. Contrary to inferences by Greenpeace that the levels found in a study of 100 homes in the UK is concerning, their figures actually show that the levels are well within recognised safety limits, even assuming worst-case scenarios.

March 2003

The safe use of the plasticiser Di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP) has been further confirmed by a major new scientific research study which shows that reproductive effects seen in rodents are unlikely to be relevant to humans.

February 2003

The United States Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) has denied a petition to ban the use of  PVC in children's toys, rejecting arguments by environmental and public health groups that it can damage children's livers and kidneys.