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November 20, 2007
PIRG's Distortions
USPIRG's annual "Trouble in Toyland" report on toys gives only minor attention to phthalates, yet even this minor attention yields major mistakes. Surely if PIRG is going to publish this annual survey, it can at least take the time to serve the public's interest -- and children's interest -- by doing its research before going to print.
Let's look at just some of what the report says, and then what the record shows:
- The report: Claims that EPA studies show the cumulative impact of phthalate exposure shows an "exponential increase in associated harm." The record: There's been one study by an EPA researcher on the subject of additivity. That study makes no claim of "harm." And that one study showed that the cumulative exposures it measured were below EPA safety levels.
- The report: Claims that Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data show phthalate levels in humans are "higher than levels shown to cause adverse health effects." The record: CDC data show that both average exposure and exposures at the 95th percentile are far below the levels that have resulted in adverse health effects in some rats. (Only for critically ill neonates getting life saving treatment involving flexible vinyl tubing and other equipment has it been estimated that levels might exceed federal safety levels.)
- The report: Claims that phthalates have been linked to "abnormal genital development in baby boys." The record: the author of a statistical study looking for a link between phthalates and health effects in baby boys said there was no such abnormal genital development – stating flatly that she detected "no frank genital malformation or disease."
- The report: Claims that phthalates have been linked to premature delivery and early onset puberty. The record: One study claimed to show evidence of babies being born one week early – hardly the definition of premature. Another study, an early puberty study, has long since been demonstrated to have been conducted improperly and is generally considered invalid.
- The report: Claims that the Consumer Product Safety Commission said there might be a risk to children who mouth toys for "'75 minutes a day or more'." The record: The CPSC later did its own observational study of mouthing habits of children and found that the norm was a very few minutes at most.
We expect better from PIRG...not another round of the kind of partial reporting and misinformation we see on the Internet and in news reports every day. Parents face tough decisions regarding what toys to give their children, and deserve accurate information.
Posted by Marian at November 20, 2007 7:49 PM