December 4, 2007 - Agency To Scan Toys For Toxic Chemicals While Children And Parents Look On

For Immediate Release:
December 4, 2007

Contact: Nick Hardeman
(916) 319-2012

Agency To Scan Toys For Toxic Chemicals
While Children And Parents Look On

Testing comes in the wake of Assemblywoman Fiona Ma’s
landmark legislation to ban toxic toys in California

WHAT:	Assemblywoman Fiona Ma will join representatives from San Francisco’s Department of the Environment, who will use an “instant read” testing device to determine whether sample children’s toys are hot with lead, cadmium, or other toxic compounds. Surrounded by the hustle and bustle of Christmas in Union Square, concerned parents and children will line up at the testing station with toys from home, or with toys intended as presents. Technical staff from leading environmental health and children’s organizations will be on hand to answer questions. Further testing scheduled for December 11 and 13, 10am – 12pm in the EcoCenter at 11 Grove Street.
WHEN:	Wednesday, December 5, 2007, 11am
WHERE:	Union Square, San Francisco (near the Christmas tree)
WHO:	Assemblywoman Fiona Ma, Representatives from SF Environment, Center for Environmental Health, Environment California, Breast Cancer Fund.

SAN FRANCISCO—Assemblywoman Fiona Ma (D-San Francisco) will be attending the testing site to speak on her legislation, AB 1108, and the need for independent testing due to the lack of action taken by the Consumer Product Safety Commission. Ma’s AB 1108 makes California the first state in the country to ban dangerous, hormone disrupting chemicals known as phthalates. Ma authored a similar ordinance while serving at the San Francisco Board of Supervisors.

“With all of the attention given to lead and chemical contamination in toys, it’s important that consumers are able to find out which products are safe,” said Assemblywoman Ma. “These tests can provide holiday shoppers with the peace of mind that the toy they are buying for a loved one is free of lead and toxic chemicals.”

On Wednesday, December 5 experts will use a portable X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) analyzer to test toys for lead, cadmium, and other harmful chemicals. These chemicals have been linked to a wide array of health effects, including reproductive and hormonal disruptions, developmental and learning disabilities, and cancer. Babies and young children are uniquely vulnerable to toxic chemicals in toys since their brains and bodies are still developing and because they frequently put toys in their mouths.

“We need to hold manufacturers accountable for the way toys and other consumer products are made—and it’s up to state and local governments to take action when there’s little leadership on the federal level,” said Jared Blumenfeld, Director of San Francisco’s Department of the Environment.

Also on December 5, a coalition of national environmental health groups will release new research ranking chemicals in over 1,500 toys. At www.HealthyToys.org parents will be able to check how a variety of products

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