The Hidden Health Dangers of Back to School Shopping

The Center for Health, Environment & Justice (CHEJ) is releasing a new Back to School Guide to PVC-Free School Supplies to help parents choose safer, PVC-free school supplies.  The guide is being released just in time for tax-free back-to-school shopping.  Parents across the country are stocking up on binders and lunchboxes.  But while it’s easy to know the healthiest foods to pack in those lunchboxes, many parents are not aware of the toxic plastic used to make them.  In fact, the average child’s character-themed backpack is filled with supplies and materials made from the most toxic plastic, polyvinyl chloride (PVC or vinyl).
 
Children are particularly vulnerable to the harmful health effects of toxic chemicals, such as dioxin, that are released by the PVC lifecycle.  A new analysis by the Environmental Working Group found Americans are exposed to up to 1,200 times more dioxin than the EPA considers safe. Chemicals released by the PVC lifecycle are linked to chronic diseases on the rise in children including learning and developmental disabilities, asthma, obesity and cancer. 
  
Although PVC, the toxic plastic, is found in many name-brand products, many safer PVC-free products are available.  CHEJ is releasing the expanded 3rd Annual Edition of their popular Back to School Guide to PVC-Free School Supplies to help parents make informed shopping choices.  Over twenty categories of school supplies, from backpacks to art supplies, are covered in the guide.  An iPhone app of the guide will be released later this month.
 
A few of the top tips for avoiding toxic PVC school supplies are:

•  Avoid backpacks with shiny plastic designs as they often contain PVC and may contain lead.
•  Use cloth lunchboxes or metal lunchboxes.  Many lunchboxes are made of PVC, or coated with PVC on the inside.
•  Used cardboard, fabric-covered, or polypropylene binders.  Most 3-ring binders are made of PVC.
   

Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC) contains dangerous chemical additives such as phthalates, lead, cadmium, and/or organotins, which can be toxic to a child’s health.  Federal law has banned the use of phthalates in toys even as it is still used in children’s school supplies.  Both Congress and the President’s Cancer Panel have called for greater regulation of such toxic chemicals in consumer products, but parents can act now to protect their children’s health by making smart shopping choices. 
 
PVC-Free Back-to-School Guide available at: http://www.chej.org/publications/PVCGuide/2010/PVCFree.pdf.