Nearly 11 years since the Department of Health (DOH) issued a landmark directive to regulate the use of "phthalates" in toys, some manufacturers continue to produce toys with high phthalate content, violating the law and posing health risks to kids, an environmental and toxics watchdog revealed.

Urging toy manufacturers, importers, distributors, and sellers to abide by the government’s regulation restricting a group of endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) called phthalates, the EcoWaste Coalition gave reminders on the existence of the DOH Administrative Order (AO) 2009-0005-A.

“Despite the 11-year-old rule restricting phthalates in toys, we still find some soft plastic toys with high phthalate content in blatant violation of the law,” said EcoWaste National Coordinator Aileen Lucero.

The AO, which was issued on December 14, 2011, makes it "unlawful for any person to manufacture for sale, offer for sale, distribute in commerce, or import into the country any children’s toy that contains concentrations of more than 0.1 percent of di-(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate, dibutyl phthalate (DBP) or benzyl butyl phthalate (BBP).”

“Toy manufacturers, importers, distributors and sellers must see to it that toys are fully compliant to quality and safety standards, free of hazardous substances such as EDCs, and duly labeled to reduce health risks and uphold children’s right to health," she added.

The said regulation further outlawed diisononyl phthalate (DINP), diisodecyl phthalate (DIDP) and di-n-octyl phthalate (DnOP) in concentrations exceeding 0.1 percent in toys that can be placed in a child’s mouth.

To demonstrate the prevalence of phthalate-containing children’s products in the market, Lucero cited the laboratory test results of toys and baby care articles that the EcoWaste bought from various shops and submitted to SGS, a global testing company, for analysis.

Out of the 12 analyzed products, three toys and four baby care articles were found to contain one or more phthalates of concern, including a plastic doll, boxing gloves for kids, mini plastic basketball, baby diaper, bib, and inflatable chair, among others.

To note, studies in animals and humans have linked phthalate exposure to a wide range of health problems, including asthma and allergic illnesses, cardiovascular diseases, cancers, neurodevelopmental disorders such as attention deficits, learning difficulties and intellectual disability, and reproductive health disorders such as genital abnormalities and undescended testicles for baby boys and reduced sperm counts and testosterone levels in adult males.

“Exposure to phthalates and other EDCs even in tiny amounts can disrupt the essential functions of the endocrine system and lead to hormonal imbalances, which may result in reduced intellectual capacity, reproductive disorders, weakened immune system, and other behavioral and health issues," explained Dr. Geminn Louis Apostol, environmental health specialist at the Ateneo School of Medicine and Public Health.

To avoid these products, parents were advised to purchase only authorized and labeled products from licensed distributors, wholesalers and retailers. One should also make sure to look for a reliable phthalate-free mark on the product label.