Toxic watchdog welcomes DOH's plan to conduct probe on lead-tainted toys

The EcoWaste Coalition, an advocate for children’s health and safety from harmful chemicals, welcomed the plan of the Department of Health (DOH) to conduct its own probe on wooden toys that were tested with high levels of lead, a neurotoxin.

Reacting to the EcoWaste Coalition’s toxic toy investigation, the DOH last Thursday told the EcoWaste Coalition they will get samples of the lead-tainted toys and have them analyzed for lead.

"If a toy tested positive with high levels of lead, we will issue a letter to the toy manufacturer or distributor for them to recall the said product," said Engr. Renato Ongkoy, Division Head of the DOH's Center for Device Regulation, Radiation Health and Research as he assured the group of the department's commitment to protect children from lead exposure.

“We welcome this pronouncement made by the DOH. As a precautionary action, we further urge our health authorities to immediately stop the sale of the lead-tainted toys until a new analysis has proven them safe for children 12 years and under,” said Roy Alvarez, EcoWaste Coalition president.

Last Tuesday, the EcoWaste Coalition revealed that six of the 11 imported and locally produced toys that it bought from registered shops and sent to the University of Cincinnati in Ohio, USA, for laboratory analysis using atomic absorption spectroscopy were found to contain elevated quantities of lead.

One sample, a colorful nautilus puzzle made by a Cebu-based toy manufacturer had lead levels between 6,039 to 45,671 parts per million (ppm), which is way above the 90 ppm "maximum allowable total lead content" for children's products under the US Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008.

The other toy samples with parts loaded with lead include a wooden ornamental pin with one part containing up to 20,740 ppm lead; a tractor with wagon with lead concentrations between 2,055 and 11,764 ppm; another pin with two parts having 4,101 and 4,888 ppm lead; a “learn to count” puzzle with lead levels up to 152 ppm; and a barnyard puzzle with one part having 95 ppm lead.

Toxicologist Dr. Bessie Antonio of the East Avenue Medical Center, who spoke at the launch of the test results, identified a range of health problems linked with children’s exposure to lead such as the damage to the brain and the nervous system.

Other problems associated with lead poisoning include speech and language handicaps and other developmental delays, low intelligence quotient and other learning disabilities and disorders, attention deficit disorder and other behavioral problems, reduced bone and muscle growth, etc.

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FDA to monitor toys more closely for high lead content

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of the Department of Health (DOH) assured the public on Thursday that it is monitoring toys in the market to make sure these do not contain hazardous materials and substances.

The FDA issued the assurance after environmental and health advocacy group EcoWaste Coalition reported on Tuesday that six out of 11 painted toys they had tested had high levels of lead.

The group then urged DOH to strengthen the enforcement of Administrative Order (AO) 2007-0032, which regulates the issuance of 'License to Operate' to companies that manufacture, import and distribute toys.

In its statement, FDA Acting Director Dr. Suzette Lazo said the FDA regularly conducts compliance monitoring of establishments. She also said the FDA does market surveillance of toy products, purchasing toys from stores and testing the toys for hazardous substances.

The FDA said the toys will be tested for the following requirements:

# Safety aspects related to mechanical and physical properties;
# Flammability; and
# Migration of certain elements

Non-compliant toys are subject to recall and are disposed of, it said.

Lazo added that samples collected and tested in December 2010 passed the safety standards.

The statement also said the FDA will ensure that all manufacturers comply with the labeling and packaging requirements of the said AO. Cautionary statements and warnings should also be written in English or Filipino, the statement said.

It also said the minimum age for intended use should be written in visible, legible and indelible form.

The FDA advised parents to check the following when buying toys for their children:

# Check labels on the packaging and observe precautions appearing in the labels;

# Ensure that the child's toys are suited for his or her age and are used under adult supervision;

# Dispose plastic packaing accordingly; and

# For children under three years old, avoid toys that are small, have sharp edges, easily break and have electrical parts.

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LGUs urged to step up declogging operations as typhoon Chedeng nears

As the country braces for typhoon Chedeng, a waste and pollution watchdog urged local government units (LGUs) to declog storm drains and creeks to ease flood risk.

The EcoWaste Coalition made the appeal as Chedeng further gains strength and threatens to dump rains in many parts of the country, including Metro Manila.

“We urge local authorities, as well as neighborhood associations, to remove garbage and other debris in waterways that can worsen the flood situation, especially in flood-prone areas,” said Roy Alvarez, President, EcoWaste Coalition.

“Whether Chedeng will change its course and hit Metro Manila or not, it’s important for all canals and creeks to be garbage-free to prevent localized flash floods after downpours,” he added.

“It’s better for our communities to be ready rather than be caught flatfooted by floods,” he emphasized.

The EcoWaste Coalition reminded the public to recall the “epic floods” of Ondoy and fulfill one's environmental responsibility to minimize the effects of nature’s wrath.

“Environmental discipline is necessary to keep our waterways garbage-free,” Alvarez said.

Towards this, the EcoWaste Coalition urged the public, especially Metro Manila’s over two million households to reduce their waste size, shun littering and dumping, and to separate their discards at source for reusing, recycling and composting.

“By cutting our waste size and safely managing our discards, we avoid turning our streets and rivers into dumping sites and flood ponds after heavy rains,” he added.

Among the high flood risk areas as identified by the Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA), the EcoWaste Coalition said these include Sampaloc and Rizal Avenue corner R. Papa in Manila; Makati Diversion Channel along South Superhighway and Buendia Avenue in Makati City.

Also considered as flood-prone areas are Maysilo Circle, Boni Avenue, Panaderos Street, Kalentong Street, Acacia Lane and Shaw Boulevard, all in Mandaluyong City; Barangay Salapan and Bagong Bato in San Juan City; and Barangays Imelda, Damayang Lagi, Tatalon and Talayan in Quezon City.

Aside from enforcing the salient provisions of R.A. 9003, the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act, the EcoWaste Coalition also urged LGUs to rehabilitate drainage facilities in their respective areas, noting that some canals are heavily silted or have collapsed in the course of time.

“A systematic rehabilitation of our aging drainage system will go a long way in reducing destruction to life and property caused by flood woes,” the EcoWaste Coalition said.

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Toxic Watchdog Finds Brain Poison in Toys

Toys with lead can damage children’s brains and their future

The EcoWaste Coalition, an advocate for chemical safety awareness and action, made this statement as it pointed to the high levels of lead, a neurotoxin, in some wooden toys sold in the domestic market.

At a press conference held today in Quezon City, environmental and health advocates led by actress Chin-Chin Gutierrez drew attention to the alarming concentrations of lead, a nerve and brain poison, in some children’s toys.

“Our investigation confirms the disturbing quantities of lead in some painted wooden toys that can harm our children’s smaller and still growing brains and bodies instead of providing them with educational and recreational benefits,” said Gutierrez, who is also a Steering Committee member of the EcoWaste Coalition.

“We urge the authorities to take tough actions to rid the toys market of lead-tainted products, including recalling toys that are unfit and unsafe for children’s use. We can and we must prevent lead poisoning of our children from toys,” she pleaded.

Toys purchased in past years still present a health risk to children and may even become more dangerous as the paint tends to become chipped and loose with time, the EcoWaste Coalition also emphasized.

Six of the 11 imported and locally-produced wooden toys bought by the EcoWaste Coalition and sent to the University of Cincinnati in Ohio, USA for laboratory analysis using atomic absorption spectroscopy were found to contain high levels of lead, the group reported.

A colourful nautilus jigsaw puzzle made in the Philippines tested with the highest amounts of lead in 14 of its component parts with lead levels between 6,039 to 45,671 ppm.

The other toy samples with parts loaded with lead include a wooden ornamental pin with one part containing up to 20,740 ppm lead; a tractor with wagon with lead concentrations between 2,055 and 11,764 ppm; another pin with two parts having 4,101 and 4,888 ppm lead; a “learn to count” puzzle with lead levels up to 152 ppm; and a barnyard puzzle with one part having 95 ppm lead.

As a reference value, the EcoWaste Coalition cited the maximum allowable total lead content of 90 ppm for children’s products, including toys, under the US Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008, with a caveat from health experts that there really is no safe ceiling for lead exposure in children.

Speaking at the press conference, toxicologist Dr. Bessie Antonio of the East Avenue Medical Center identified a range of health problems linked with children’s exposure to lead, including damage to the brain and the nervous system, speech and language handicaps and other developmental delays, low intelligence quotient and other learning disabilities and disorders, attention deficit disorder and other behavioral problems, reduced bone and muscle growth, etc.

For his part, Thony Dizon, Coordinator of the EcoWaste Coalition’s Project PROTECT (People Responding and Organizing against Toxic Chemical Threats), outlined several action points addressed to key government departments.

1. For the Department of Environment and Natural Resources to issue a health-based Chemical Control Order for the elimination of lead-added paints and articles to curb childhood exposure to lead.

2. For the Department of Health to strengthen the enforcement of DOH Administrative Order 2007-0032 regulating the issuance of license to operate to companies that manufacture, import or distribute toys for the local market, to test toys for lead and to initiate the recall of lead-contaminated toys.

3. For the Department of Education to screen donations of toys and school supplies for DepEd’s K+12 Basic Education Program, and also to order the compulsory use of lead-free paints in school painting and re-painting activities.

4. For the Department of Trade and Industry to review the Philippine National Standards (PNS) for toys to prohibit the production, importation, distribution and sale of toys and other children’s articles loaded with lead and other chemicals of concern such as phthalates.

5. For the Department of Finance through the Bureau of Customs to exert all measures to stop the entry of untested, unlabelled and unregistered toys from overseas.

The EcoWaste Coalition also urged the government to ask toy manufacturers to examine the lead content of items that they have sold in the past and also include them in the recall if found to contain lead.

Toys can last for some time and pose a health hazard for as long as they are accessible to children. In fact, as the toys age they are more likely to have their paint become loose, be more available to kids and thus contribute to lead exposure.

To illustrate the magnitude of this toxic challenge, the EcoWaste Coalition said that the US Consumer Product Safety Commission issued 137 recall orders from 2007 to 2009 for over 10 million imported toys due to high lead content.

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High-tech landfill in San Mateo ready to process garbage from Metro Manila

A 19-hectare sanitary landfill in San Mateo, Rizal, which was earlier met with opposition and complaints, opened over the weekend.

Andy Santiago, president of San Mateo Landfill and Development Corp. (SMLDC), which operates the facility, said the landfill, which uses state-of-the-art technology, was ready to accommodate and process garbage coming from Metro Manila.

The construction of the P300-million sanitary landfill located at Barangay (village) Pintong Bukawe had been opposed by a real-estate developer and environmental groups because it allegedly violated environment regulations and had encroached on a watershed area.

Cases were later filed with some dismissed and several others pending in court, Santiago said.

An environment compliance certificate issued by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), however, gave SMLDC the green light to start operating the facility.

In 2009 and 2010, it began handling the garbage of residents of San Mateo and Cainta, respectively.

Dubbed as the “hi-tech recycle bin of residual waste,” the sanitary landfill was launched on Saturday with Rizal Governor Jun Ynares, Metropolitan Manila Development Authority Chairman Francis Tolentino and DENR regional officials in attendance.

Santiago explained that the new San Mateo landfill was different from other landfills in the country for it would soon have the refuse derived fuel facility (RDF), which converts waste into fuel for cement production.

“We are considering a lot of ways to minimize landfilling. [Through] the RDF, the residual waste would be down by 60 percent,” he said.

The landfill also has leachate holding ponds, a water-treatment facility that produces clean water to grow fish and plants and a material recovery facility that recycles garbage.

In addition, it has a 1,000-square-meter greenhouse plantation, a bike trail and gazebos that can be used as viewing decks.

Santiago stressed that the Rizal provincial government and the San Mateo municipality had been benefiting from the landfill without shelling out a single cent.

He said that the two local governments get 25 percent of the tipping fees that the SMLDC collects from processing wastes.

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Group warns vs high lead levels in toys

Made and imported wooden toys have been found to contain high levels of lead, a neurotoxin that can cause brain damage, a chemical safety advocacy group said on Tuesday.

Six of the 11 imported and locally-produced toys it bought last year and later sent abroad for laboratory analysis showed "the disturbing quantities of lead in some painted wooden toys," the EcoWaste Coalition said in a statement.

High quantities of the substance "can harm our children's smaller and still growing brains and bodies instead of providing them with educational and recreational benefits," the group's statement said, citing one of its members, actress Chin-Chin Gutierrez.

"We urge the authorities to take tough actions to rid the toys market of lead-tainted products, including recalling toys that are unfit and unsafe for children's use. We can and we must prevent lead poisoning of our children from toys," said Gutierrez, who is also a Steering Committee member of the EcoWaste Coalition.

Toys can last for some time and pose a health hazard for as long as they are accessible to children. As the toys age, they are more likely to have their paint become loose and thereby be more available to kids and contribute to lead exposure.

A Philippine-made colorful nautilus jigsaw puzzle which was tested using atomic absorption spectroscopy in the University of Cincinnati in Ohio, USA was found to contain the highest amounts of lead in 14 of its component parts with lead levels between 6,039 to 45,671 parts per million.

Other toy samples with parts loaded with lead include a wooden ornamental pin with one part containing up to 20,740 ppm lead; a tractor with wagon with lead concentrations between 2,055 and 11,764 ppm; another pin with two parts having 4,101 and 4,888 ppm lead; a "learn to count" puzzle with lead levels up to 152 ppm; and a barnyard puzzle with one part having 95 ppm lead.

The maximum allowable total lead content is at 90 ppm for children's products, including toys, the group said, citing the US Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008.

But at the same time, the Coalition cited health experts who say that there really is no safe ceiling for lead exposure in children.

During a press conference it held Tuesday, toxicologist Dr. Bessie Antonio of the East Avenue Medical Center identified a range of health problems linked with children's exposure to lead, including damage to the brain and the nervous system, speech and language handicaps and other developmental delays, low intelligence quotient and other learning disabilities and disorders, attention deficit disorder and other behavioral problems, reduced bone and muscle growth, etc.

For his part, Thony Dizon, Coordinator of the EcoWaste Coalition's Project Protect (People Responding and Organizing against Toxic Chemical Threats), outlined several action points addressed to key government departments.

It asked the Department of Environment and Natural Resources to issue a health-based Chemical Control Order for the elimination of lead-added paints and articles to curb childhood exposure to lead.

It also sought the Department of Health's cooperation in strengthening the enforcement of DOH Administrative Order 2007-0032. The order regulates the issuance of license to operate to companies that manufacture, import, or distribute toys for the local market, to test toys for lead and to initiate the recall of lead-contaminated toys.

Similarly, it appealed to the Department of Education to screen donations of toys and school supplies for DepEd's K+12 Basic Education Program, and also to order the compulsory use of lead-free paints in school painting and re-painting activities.

The group also said that the Department of Trade and Industry should review the Philippine National Standards (PNS) for toys to prohibit the production, importation, distribution and sale of toys and other children's articles loaded with lead and other chemicals of concern such as phthalates.

The Department of Finance through the Bureau of Customs should exert all measures to stop the entry of untested, unlabelled, and unregistered toys from overseas.

The EcoWaste Coalition also urged the government to ask toy manufacturers to examine the lead content of items that they have sold in the past and also include them in the recall if found to contain lead.

To illustrate the magnitude of this toxic challenge, the EcoWaste Coalition said that the US Consumer Product Safety Commission issued 137 recall orders from 2007 to 2009 for over 10 million imported toys due to high lead content.

Read More

EcoWaste Coalition finds brain poison in toys

The EcoWaste Coalition, an advocate for chemical safety awareness and action, has warned the high levels of lead, a neurotoxin, in some wooden toys sold in the domestic market.

At a press conference held Tuesday in Quezon City, environmental and health advocates led by actress Chin-Chin Gutierrez drew attention to the alarming concentrations of lead, a nerve and brain poison, in some children’s toys.

“Our investigation confirms the disturbing quantities of lead in some painted wooden toys that can harm our children’s smaller and still growing brains and bodies instead of providing them with educational and recreational benefits,” said Gutierrez, who is also a Steering Committee member of the EcoWaste Coalition.

“We urge the authorities to take tough actions to rid the toys market of lead-tainted products, including recalling toys that are unfit and unsafe for children’s use. We can and we must prevent lead poisoning of our children from toys,” she said.

Toys purchased in past years still present a health risk to children and may even become more dangerous as the paint tends to become chipped and loose with time, the EcoWaste Coalition also said.

Six of the 11 imported and locally-produced wooden toys bought by the EcoWaste Coalition and sent to the University of Cincinnati in Ohio, USA for laboratory analysis using atomic absorption spectroscopy were found to contain high levels of lead, the group reported.

A colorful nautilus jigsaw puzzle made in the Philippines tested with the highest amounts of lead in 14 of its component parts with lead levels between 6,039 to 45,671 ppm.

The other toy samples with parts loaded with lead include a wooden ornamental pin with one part containing up to 20,740 ppm lead; a tractor with wagon with lead concentrations between 2,055 and 11,764 ppm; another pin with two parts having 4,101 and 4,888 ppm lead; a “learn to count” puzzle with lead levels up to 152 ppm; and a barnyard puzzle with one part having 95 ppm lead.

As a reference value, the EcoWaste Coalition cited the maximum allowable total lead content of 90 ppm for children’s products, including toys, under the US Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008, with a caveat from health experts that there really is no safe ceiling for lead exposure in children.

Speaking at the press conference, toxicologist Dr. Bessie Antonio of the East Avenue Medical Center identified a range of health problems linked with children’s exposure to lead, including damage to the brain and the nervous system, speech and language handicaps and other developmental delays, low intelligence quotient and other learning disabilities and disorders, attention deficit disorder and other behavioral problems, reduced bone and muscle growth, etc.

Read More