WASHINGTON (October 18, 2017) – The High Phthalates Panel of the American Chemistry Council (ACC) released the following statement today in response to the Consumer Product Safety Commission’s (CPSC) vote on the phthalates final rule, which restricts the phthalate DINP in toys and childcare articles. The vote on the final rule is based on the CPSC Chronic Hazard Advisory Panel (CHAP) on Phthalates report that was released in July 2014.
“ACC supports CPSC’s decision to lift the interim restrictions on two phthalates—DIDP and DnOP. However, CPSC’s vote to restrict the use of DINP in toys and childcare articles is the culmination of a process that has consistently ignored the established science and fabricated rationales for the panel to defend their predetermined outcomes. From the beginning of this rulemaking process, ACC has questioned the integrity of the agency’s internal scientific reviews as well as the overall review process, by which those decisions were developed.
“ACC believes the CPSC decision to restrict DINP in toys and childcare articles contrasts with the decades of established science. This vote to ban DINP is arbitrary and capricious and proves CPSC isn’t interested in acting based on valid scientific standards. If the commissioners were, they would have relied on scientifically reasonable statistics when assessing the exposure data, which demonstrate that the cumulative risk of exposure to these phthalates is actually well below any level of concern—even for sensitive populations.
“DINP is one of the most thoroughly studied compounds in the world. It has been reviewed by numerous international scientific panels for decades, and the conclusions are essentially the same each time: DINP, as currently used in commercial and consumer products, does not pose a risk to human health at typical exposure levels.
“This CPSC action should not be interpreted to limit DINP’s safe use in the myriad of other products in the automotive, construction, flooring and cable and wiring industries where DINP provides important performance characteristics, making materials flexible, durable and resilient.”