SACRAMENTO—Today, the Assembly Health Committee passed landmark legislation, authored by Assemblywoman Fiona Ma (D-San Francisco), that would make California the first state in the country to ban dangerous chemicals used in baby toys.  The bill, AB 1108, is sponsored by Environment California and modeled after an ordinance that Ma wrote while at the Board of Supervisors in San Francisco. AB 1108 passed out of the Health committee by a vote of 9-4.  AB 1108 earlier cleared the Environmental Safety and Toxic Materials Committee on a vote of 5-2.  The next vote on the legislation will take place on the Assembly floor.

AB 1108 will prohibit the manufacture, sale, and distribution of toys and child care products intended for use by children under the age of three that contain certain phthalates.  Some of these phthalates are listed on California’s Proposition 65 list as reproductive toxins. Fourteen countries and the European Union have already banned or are phasing out the chemical.  A number of US toy and baby bottle manufacturers have already stopped using phthalates in baby toys, including Gerber and Disney.

“These are toys that regularly go in babies’ mouths,” said Assemblywoman Ma. “The science is in, the precedent has been set and it is time for California to take action.”

 Phthalates are a chemical substance used to make plastic soft and flexible.  Among other things, they are used in soft plastic toys and other baby products such as bath books, rubber ducks, and teethers.  Phthalates leach out of plastic over time and into the bodies of children, who have a tendency to suck on objects.  Phthalates have been shown to have a number of negative effects on human health:

• Phthalates interfere with the natural functioning of the hormone system
• Exposure may cause reproductive and genital defects
• Exposure is linked to premature birth and early onset of puberty
• Phthalates may lower sperm count and are associated with the risk factors of testicular cancer

“Babies are the most vulnerable part of our population,” said Assemblywoman Ma. “These products need to be removed from store shelves.”