WASHINGTON, D.C. - The battle over phthalates continued this week as the Consumer Product Safety Commission issued an opinion explaining the agency's plans to enforce the ban on certain types of phthalates in products intended for use by children.
The CPSC's General Counsel decided that the prohibition of phthalates, set to take effect on Feb. 10, 2009, would apply only to products manufactured after that date. While the decision was a boon to product producers still struggling to comply with the law, Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) was displeased by the decision. (According to a Washington Post reporter, a CPSC gave companies the impression that the ban would be retroactive, just as the stricter limits on lead were retroactive.)
Sen. Boxer, who collaborated with Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) on a provision of the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008, wrote to the agency in protest, saying, "Your recent opinion that purports to interpret the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 to allow the continued sale of children's toys and child care products that contain harmful phthalates beyond February 10, 2009 violates the clear language of that Act...
"I can assure you it was the intent of Congress to ban the sale of any children's toy or child care article containing certain phthalates after 180 days post-enactment. Any other interpretation has no basis in fact.
"The ban clearly includes toys and child care articles produced both before and after the enactment date of the legislation. Allowing these harmful products to remain on store shelves places children in danger and does a disservice to the American consumer."
However, CPSC spokesperson Julie Vallese maintains the agency followed the law as penned, explaining that conflicting provisions led to the General Counsel's interpretation. "Because Congress wrote it, it's not for the CPSC to change," she says. "If it's not written as Congress intended, it's up to them to fix it."
Source: Washington Post
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