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Plastic toy ban

13 December 1997

Denmark is to ban PVC toys containing toxic phthalates, which are used to
soften PVC plastics. In June, Danish scientists first warned of the risks in the
teething rings that babies chew (This Week, 14 June, p 10).
Phthalates can damage the liver.

Toy stores in Scandinavia and the Netherlands have voluntarily withdrawn some
PVC toys, but no country has banned them until now. The manufacturers say there
is no risk. But Svend Auken, the Danish environment minister, wants the European
Union to ban toys containing the chemicals.

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