Ask the largest toy manufacturers to reformulate their products so they are safe for children, and to adopt a corporate chemicals policy.
As the largest toy companies in the world, we are calling on you to strengthen your public commitment to safe toys by adopting a comprehensive chemical policy that will state the company's intention to make kids' products using only safe chemicals and materials. Manufacturers of children's products and the retailers that sell them have a responsibility to ensure that those products are safe for kids, and safe for the workers that make your products. Your policy should include the following elements:
1. Know what's in your product: Identify the chemical constituents of products and the life-cycle impacts including chemicals used in making the product (process chemicals) and chemicals released during product use, and their degradation and combustion byproducts.
2. Assess hazards: Determine the hazard characteristics of chemical constituents, process chemicals, and chemical byproducts from degradation and combustion.
3. Prescreen all chemicals before use and eliminate the use of dangerous chemicals. Companies should end the use of chemicals that can cause cancer, hormone disruption, nervous system problems, reproductive problems, or are persistent bioaccumulative and toxic (PBT).
4. Eliminated the worst chemicals and commit to continuous improvement: Commit to use only inherently low hazard chemicals. Set goals for benchmarking progress to safer chemicals and prioritize high hazard chemicals for substitution with safer alternatives. Commit to eliminating phthalates, lead, mercury, cadmium, and PVC as a first step.
5. Disclose ingredients: Share information on all the chemical constituents of your products.
6. Publicly support government chemical reform measures: Companies can provide a powerful voice for change at the state and federal level.
7. Be socially responsible by contracting from and operating facilities that meet basic human rights for workers and provide safe and healthy workplaces.
8. Publicly disclose the policy and progress towards achieving it on your company's website, in your annual CSR/sustainability reporting, and in the media.
Thank you in advance for your leadership in making products safe for kids, families and workers.
