CHILDREN, PREGNANT WOMEN NEED IMMEDIATE PROTECTION FROM DEHP, SAYS SWEEPING NEW EUROPEAN UNION PROPOSAL
Industry accuses agency of trying to “destroy market” for toxic phthalate that is widely used in everyday products

Despite aggressive industry efforts to stop it, a new proposal that seeks to protect children from the toxic chemical DEHP was introduced in the European Union last week. The strongest government indictment yet of the widely used chemical, the EU proposal seeks to immediately ban DEHP from medical devices used on newborn babies and toys, and would restrict the use of DEHP in food packaging and other types of medical devices.

DEHP -- a member of a family of chemicals called phthalates that cause a spectrum of health effects in animal studies including reproductive damage and birth defects -- is widely used as a softener in PVC plastic products such as toys, medical devices and building materials.

"The action plan delivered to the European Commission this week provides enough evidence about the health risks of DEHP to warrant immediate action to protect children and pregnant women from this chemical,” said Per Rosander, coordinator of Health Care Without Harm Europe. “We call on all EU countries to immediately implement the sweeping protections put forth in this plan.”

The plan was submitted by the Swedish National Chemicals Inspectorate (Kemi), the agency charged with drafting a DEHP risk reduction strategy for the 15 EU countries. The proposal came after a careful and lengthy investigation into the health risks of DEHP, which “identified several exposure scenarios where there is no disagreement over the concerns for reproductive toxicity.”

“To delay the proceeding to risk reduction measures any more would be unreasonable,” the action plan states.

DEHP manufacturers tried unsuccessfully to delay the action plan and water down its content. ECPI, the lobby organisation of DEHP producers in Europe, repeatedly threatened legal action, and said the plan would “destroy the market” for DEHP, a 500 million Euro per year industry.

The new EU proposal is the latest strike against a chemical that is coming under increasing scrutiny around the world. Recent news includes:

- In January 2002, the European Commission banned two phthalates, DEHP and DBP, from cosmetics sold in the European Union because the chemicals are reproductive toxins.

- A major new study by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control found DEHP and other phthalates contaminating the bodies of U.S. residents. Children had the highest levels of DEHP.

- The US Food and Drug Administration, the Japanese Ministry of Health and a Health Canada expert panel have all recommended that some patients be protected from DEHP-containing medical devices, particularly infants and pregnant women.

- A new study from Italian scientists confirms that DEHP and its toxic breakdown products are passed from pregnant women to their developing children.

“The signal to the market is clear. Manufacturers of toys, medical devices and food packaging should put their customers’ health before convenience and immediately eliminate the reproductive toxin DEHP from their products and switch to safer non-PVC alternatives,” Rosander said.

The full Kemi report, and more information about DEHP in medical devices, is posted at www.noharm.org. For more information about phthalates in cosmetics, please see www.NotTooPretty.org.

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