Special Article�FUnsafe Baby Products

One after another, companies produce dozens of attractive new toys and products. They all look pretty and useful. But are those fancy toys really safe? Are you sure that they do not contain poisonous materials?


Styrene Monomer, a Carcinogenic Endocrine Disruptor Detected in ABS Resin

ABS resin and AS resin are often used in toys for infants. Since infants usually chew and bite on things, under a supposition that toys become scratched and damaged, Citizens' Table of Endocrine Disruptors Japan broke toys into pieces before sending them for testing. The result? Styrene monomer was detected from these resins. Styrene that was used as a raw material has been melting out.

Table Infant Products' Endocrine Disruptor Test Results

Choose and Use Safe Plastics

A toxic chemical, styrene monomer, that has caused behavior disorder in baby rats, leaches from ABS resin and AS resin too. Choose safe plastics for your babies.

Styrene is highly carcinogenic (2B) according to the International Agency for Research on Cancer and it is also an endocrine disrupting chemical. Baby rats whose mothers were given styrene during pregnancy and lactation have shown behavior disorders. Usually rat babies cuddle together to sleep during daytime, but those whose mothers were given styrene monomer showed a tendency to act alone. And at night, when rats are normally active, the active mass doubled. (Tokai University, Assistant Professor Takahiko Yoshida and others, Dec. 6, 1998, Mainichi Newspaper)

The wives of workers at styrene factories frequently have miscarriages also indicates that toxicity affects reproductive systems. (Tuskinen and others, 1989)

Styrene monomer was not detected from polystyrene (styrol resin) cups during testing, however, the tests were conducted on new, unused cups. Therefore we could not be certain about the safety of cups that are used and scratched.

Cups for children with characters' pictures on the side are made of propylene (PP) or polystyrene (styrol resin��PS.) Choose safe PP products:

Try Not to Use Polyvinyl Chloride Products

We can find many colorful plastic toys in the toy corner of shops. And since polyvinyl chloride is easy to color, we can assume that it is often used in these toys. But it is not easy to find toys with labels indicating the contents of such toys. Polyvinyl chloride plasticizers, phthalate ester and bisphenol A, have been identified as having safety problems. But recently, Dr. Theo Colborn, the author of "Our Stolen Future", stated that polyvinyl chloride itself is an endocrine disrupting chemical. So try not to use unsafe polyvinyl chloride toys.