(Bloomberg News) U.S. homes may contain flooring and wallpaper that emit the types of toxic chemicals the Consumer Product Safety Commission has banned from toys, an environmental group said in urging expanded regulation of the substances.
The building materials may expose kids to chemicals such as phthalates that were banned in children's products in a 2008 overhaul of the CPSC, said Jeff Gearhart, research director at the Ecology Center in Ann Arbor, Mich., which yesterday released a study showing emissions from 3,000 products. Lead and cadmium also were found in some products, he said.
"Toys aren't the only source of exposure," Gearhart said in an interview. "We really need a broader federal policy reform. We should be looking at chemicals in everything, not product by product."
U.S. lawmakers, acting over opposition from Exxon-Mobil Corp. and the American Chemistry Council, two years ago agreed to expand a ban to three phthalates, used to soften products such as water bottles and children's toys. The chemistry council testified in 2008 that risk assessments, including a 2001 CPSC report, found no danger to children from the materials. Congress passed legislation after regulators in Canada and Europe acted to impose a ban.
The Ecology Center, saying it was prompted by a lack of federal standards for products used in house improvements, tested more than 1,000 types of flooring items and almost 2,300 types of wallpaper. The project followed an earlier study of toys, car interiors and women's handbags.
Products containing phthalates can release toxic gas over time because the plasticizers aren't chemically bonded to the underlying material, Gearhart said. Children also breathe in the chemicals through dust.
Asthma, Cancer Links
Phthalates have been used for decades and evaluated for safety by government and independent scientific organizations, three industry organizations said today in a statement responding to the findings.
"Most of the test results on PCV/vinyl products appear to show that these products are being manufactured responsibly, with a commitment to product stewardship," according to the statement from the Vinyl Institute, the Resilient Floor Covering Institute and the Wallcoverings Association.
Phthalates and heavy metals are linked to asthma, birth defects, learning disabilities, liver toxicity and cancer, the Ecology Center said. Kids are twice as likely to have asthma if they're living in homes with vinyl materials, Gearhart said.