Back-to-school study finds high levels of phthalate chemicals in kids backpacks, supplies

Children's backpacks found by the Center for Health, Environment & Justice to contain "toxic" phthalates

/ Flickr/CHEJ

(CBS News) Children's back-to-school backpacks and other supplies may contain higher levels of potentially toxic chemicals than the government allows in most toys, a new study shows.

Pictures: Toxins found in school supplies

The study found that about 75 percent of children's school supplies contain high levels of potentially toxic phthalates. New York Sen. Charles Schumer called for new laws to regulate the chemical while discussing the report, which was released by the advocacy group Center for Health, Environment & Justice (CHEJ) on Sunday.

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"School supplies are supposed to help our children with their education, they shouldn't be harming their health," Schumer said in an emailed press release. "We don't allow high levels of these toxic chemicals in children's toys and we certainly shouldn't allow them in back-to-school products. When kids take their lunch to school this fall, they shouldn't be carrying it in a lunchbox laden with toxic chemicals."

The study, Hidden Hazards: Toxic Chemicals Inside Children's Vinyl Back-to-School Supplies, was published on the CHEJ website.

The CHEJ  says phthalates are a class of chemical used to soften vinyl plastic that are hazardous at even low levels of exposure. Phthalates have been linked to birth defects, early puberty, infertility, asthma, ADHD, obesity, and diabetes.

For the investigation, scientists randomly purchased and tested 20 back-to-school items from New York City dollar stores and other retailers. They found Disney's Dora the Explorer Backpack contained phthalate levels over 69 times higher than the allowable federal limit for toys. The Amazing Spiderman Lunchbox contained 27 times the federal limit, while the Disney Princess Lunchbox exceeded the toy limit by 29 times. Children's rain coats, rain boots and 3-ring binders also were found to contain the toxins.

In light of the findings, Senator Chuck Schumer of New York said he would push for the Safe Chemicals Act, a bill co-sponsored by New Jersey Senator Frank Lautenberg. The act would give the Environmental Protection Agency more authority to regulate chemicals used in consumer products.

"It's time for Congress to move forward and pass the Safe Chemicals Act to protect our children and schools from toxic exposure," Mike Schade of CHEJ said in a statement.

15 Photos

Study finds toxins in school supplies

Besides plastics, the chemical is also found in personal care and beauty products, adhesives, electronics, toys, packaging and even some medication coatings.

Previous research suggests phthalates are endocrine-disrupting chemicals that may alter hormone regulation and other mechanisms in the body. A recent study tied phthalates to an increased risk of diabetes for some women.

High levels of phthalate exposure through the use of plastic medical devices for feeding, medicating and assisting the breathing of newborn infants, may affect the male reproductive development, according to the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences.

In 2010, 60 Minutes reported on pediatricians finding an alarming increase in deformed sex organs for newborn baby boys:

[darkedge3]

This is a massive concerned about not unlike the vast number of other products that have problems defects and other concerns which are largely coming about due to a pressure on pricing. the fact is that consumer wants things cheaper and cheaper and the manufacturers are forced to make a way to cut costs and corners in order to deliver a product at a much reduced price and yet still make a profit. <a href="http://schoolbags.co.uk">Schoolbags</a> are just one of the many things that we should be concerned about

[Pandas818]

Everyone on here seems to be pretty adamently blaming China, why is noone blaming USA?! America has the one of the lowest standards by which chemicals are assessed in the world, not only in products such as backpacks, vinyl etc but (perhams more importantly) in food. The utter CRAP that gets put into food is unbelievable, and its not just in the obvious junk food, its in every processed food item and nearly all of the fizzy drinks- Saccharin an artificial sweetener (Sweet n' Low) is used in so many things and it is KNOWN to cause cancer, but because of pressure from the food industry it was taken off the list of cancer causing chemicals!!! Nearly all of the artificial colours used every day in sweets, drinks and foods cause cancer, genetic damage and asthma in the lab animals they test them on, but its still allowed because its a multi-billion dollar industry (keep your eyes open for Green #3, Blue #1, Blue #2, Yellow #6, Red #3, Yellow #5 and Citrus Red #2- they are some of the worst). Thank God the Republicans didnt get elected or it would be even worse, at least Obama tries to change some of these things. So many (but unfortunately not all) of these are banned in UK/Europe so why are they so blatantly allowed in America??? The money the food industry is reaping is worth more than the citizens eating it, which is not ok.

[JCfromCO]

It's an interesting little political microcosm. We all want the perfect utopia where products are cheap and pretty and, of course, safe. Before we go jumping off the deep end (what the media often wants us to do), we need the facts.
Look at the wording in the article... "may contain higher levels" of "potentially" toxic chemicals. It sounds kind of wishy-washy, like they are not quite sure. But then throw in "deformed sex organs in newborns" and they have us right where they want us.
The reality is that none of us want children (or anyone) exposed to something that can reasonably cause them harm. But, there is a big difference between a feeding or breathing tube used 24 hours a day by a newborn, or even a baby rattle and a backpack that sits under my son's chair at school, isn't there?
What is the real risk? What type of exposure is dangerous? Sitting in the same room? Sucking on it for hours? Don't know or not telling? Is it absorbed through the skin? Can I breath it? Do I have to swallow it? Why aren't these seemingly reasonable questions being answered? Am I the only one asking?
The reality is there is always a push and pull with technology and innovation. We need to do our best to have balance and do what is fair and reasonable and safe. I read the underlying study on the CHEJ website and, in my opinion, their recommendations were a bit frightening. They wanted not just to ban phthalates from school supplies, but to ban vinyl. And, not just to ban vinyl from school supplies, but to ban its use in schools at all, including in office supplies and building materials.
Yipes. Is all that banning justified? Maybe, but where are the facts. Are they just counting on scare tactics, or do they want a social debate on the issue? I thought that PVC pipe worked pretty well in underground sprinkler systems. Is it hurting the kids? I like vinyl windows? Are they bad? It seems like a bit of overreaching, but I don't know.
What we need is not scare tactics, but facts.

[tsigili]

You expected safe products from China?????

[nohater]

wonder if any of the items are made in china. that aside, nearly everything we buy is plastic or in plastic container or plastic is part of the item. grandfather says items used to be packaged in cardboard, even hot coffee to go was served in hard paper cups, liquids were packaged in glass containers. detergent came in cardboard like boxes, hardly anything was packaged in plastic. even groceries were either put in paper bags or cardboard boxes the market had received shipments of shelf goods. even autos were made of metal not a combination of plastic and metal like today.

[erasmus111]

We need to go back to using glass for a lot of things.

[vanalem]

Why is it that the standards for testing for a lot of products from China is higher in Europe then in the States. The same products that are made for European countries have a lower toxic level then the same product that is made for the U.S. Same with cellphones!!
The companies don't care about the people, they just care about making the BIG BUCKS!!!

[erasmus111]

Everyone should know by now that plastics and vinyl are toxic.

Everyone is always so surprised when they find lead in things. Why? Just about everything you have is made in China. Everything from China has lead and toxic chemicals in it. But forget China, America has lead and crap in their stuff too. America says lead is banned, but that is just not the case.

My daughters worked at a place where they made ceramics. The boss used to cross the border into the U.S. to get her glazes and paints. Why? Because they were more colorful. They had LEAD in them. She couldn't get them here, in Canada, because they are banned.


If more things were actually tested, you would see there was a whole lot more lead and chemicals in stuff than you think. The problem is no one even checks unless obvious health problems arise. Then they just check the thing in question. Take the children's jewelry, for instance. They will focus on one particular necklace. They test it and find lead in it and then pull it from the shelves. Then awhile down the road there will be another necklace and they will do the same thing. Meanwhile, if they were to bother testing all the kid's jewelry, they would probably find that it ALLLLL had lead and cadmium(?) in it.

[OnceALiberalNowAModerate]

This is yet another case of the Chinese poisoning us with the products they sell us! Joseph5 is dead on right, we don't have a system set up to test all these products that are coming into our country from China! It would require a large expansion of several Government Departments and the Repubs are simply not going to allow that. Haters in the private fat-cat sector would howl over any expansion too. And still we, our kids, and our pets are being poisoned everyday by chemicals that can only be detected with serious lab testing. Whether it's Lead or Phthalates or other chemicals, these Chinese companies simply do not care OR WORSE, are putting toxins in these products deliberately to find out how much testing we are actually doing. Once they know that they aren't going to get caught, they'll find more ways to try to poison all of us.

We can ALL do something to stop this, and that is to buy as little as possible that is made in China. I know how difficult that is, but the power of the pocketbook is the only way to deal with this right now. Our government doesn't seem to want to put the screws to the country that holds the biggest share of our debt...

[erasmus111]

"Whether it's Lead or Phthalates or other chemicals, these Chinese companies simply do not care OR WORSE, are putting toxins in these products deliberately to find out how much testing we are actually doing. Once they know that they aren't going to get caught, they'll find more ways to try to poison all of us."


My thoughts exactly. I've been saying that for years. What better way to get rid of people, huh? Just gradually poison them until every one is dead and then move in and take over! : ) They know that nothing is being tested because they've been doing it for years and getting away with it. It just looks like, as the years go by, more and more people are dying from things like cancer and kidney disease. They just don't know why or where it's coming from. Nobody even suspects CHINA!

[credibility2]

...these items probably came from China...the EPA will have its hands tied in dealing with China...corporations dictate to Chinese manufacturers all the specs and China does whatever it wants to...this is more intrusion by the government and an attempt to bloat the ranks of government agencies again...there aren't any studies to date that show incidents of humans touching these items and entry into the bloodstream...the studies are flawed science put out by a bunch of disgruntled environmentalists and green-purists...

[jnostromo]

So what, we try to regulate china?