Everybody knows the catchy little tune Ernie sang on Sesame Street. What people didn’t know back then was that encouraging millions of children to bathe with a plastic toy might not have been such a good idea. Ernie’s ducky may have been made of rubber, but the duckies that bobbed their way into the bathtubs of America were made of plastic. Our plastic is supple because its composition includes phtalates. Now it turns out that phtalates are very bad for children and for the rest of us. Phtalates are endocrine disrupters. You do not even have to touch the plastic, or put it in your mouth to increase your risk of contamination. The phtalates enter the air and you breathe them in (source = Fresh Air, interview of Mark Schapiro by Terri Gross regarding Exposed: The Toxic Chemistry of Everyday Products and What’s at Stake for American Power). We have duckies here at Chez Sven, patrolling the rim of the bathtub. They are older duckies, from the Swap Shop, and theoretically have already given up their vapors. How can I tell? They have turned hard. California has become the first state to ban phtalates, but the bill will only become law in 2009. Plastic wrap, plastic bottles, blue tarp, yellow kayak outside the window … Plastic seems to be everywhere. Now to the daunting task of reducing its use …
Friday, November 30, 2007
Goodbye, Rubber Ducky ...
“Rubber Ducky, you’re the one. You make bath time, oh so fun …” 
Everybody knows the catchy little tune Ernie sang on Sesame Street. What people didn’t know back then was that encouraging millions of children to bathe with a plastic toy might not have been such a good idea. Ernie’s ducky may have been made of rubber, but the duckies that bobbed their way into the bathtubs of America were made of plastic. Our plastic is supple because its composition includes phtalates. Now it turns out that phtalates are very bad for children and for the rest of us. Phtalates are endocrine disrupters. You do not even have to touch the plastic, or put it in your mouth to increase your risk of contamination. The phtalates enter the air and you breathe them in (source = Fresh Air, interview of Mark Schapiro by Terri Gross regarding Exposed: The Toxic Chemistry of Everyday Products and What’s at Stake for American Power). We have duckies here at Chez Sven, patrolling the rim of the bathtub. They are older duckies, from the Swap Shop, and theoretically have already given up their vapors. How can I tell? They have turned hard. California has become the first state to ban phtalates, but the bill will only become law in 2009. Plastic wrap, plastic bottles, blue tarp, yellow kayak outside the window … Plastic seems to be everywhere. Now to the daunting task of reducing its use …
Everybody knows the catchy little tune Ernie sang on Sesame Street. What people didn’t know back then was that encouraging millions of children to bathe with a plastic toy might not have been such a good idea. Ernie’s ducky may have been made of rubber, but the duckies that bobbed their way into the bathtubs of America were made of plastic. Our plastic is supple because its composition includes phtalates. Now it turns out that phtalates are very bad for children and for the rest of us. Phtalates are endocrine disrupters. You do not even have to touch the plastic, or put it in your mouth to increase your risk of contamination. The phtalates enter the air and you breathe them in (source = Fresh Air, interview of Mark Schapiro by Terri Gross regarding Exposed: The Toxic Chemistry of Everyday Products and What’s at Stake for American Power). We have duckies here at Chez Sven, patrolling the rim of the bathtub. They are older duckies, from the Swap Shop, and theoretically have already given up their vapors. How can I tell? They have turned hard. California has become the first state to ban phtalates, but the bill will only become law in 2009. Plastic wrap, plastic bottles, blue tarp, yellow kayak outside the window … Plastic seems to be everywhere. Now to the daunting task of reducing its use …
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