Memo to all parents

Attention all parents! With the school opening just around the proverbial corner, a waste and pollution watchdog has cautioned parents against buying toxin-laced school supplies that can expose their children to harmful substances and affect their growth and development.

For parents who have yet to shop for their children’s back-to-school needs (Divisoria and the malls must be teeming with people now), the EcoWaste Coalition, a non-governmental organization campaigning for chemical safety, has sent this memo: Be critical when making purchase decisions.

Trust this eco group to always do its homework. It has also asked the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) to conduct a random testing of typical school supplies for priority chemicals of concern to guide parents on which products to avoid.

Retired chemist Sonia Mendoza of the Mother Earth Foundation and the EcoWaste Coalition says with maternal concern, “It is the responsibility of parents to make informed choices that will protect their children, who are most vulnerable to chemical exposure, from toxins that are lurking in school supplies that they use every day.”

Thony Dizon of the EcoWaste’s Project PROTECT (People Responding and Organizing against Toxic Chemical Threats) asserts, “To help parents perform such responsibility for their children’s health, the least the government can do, in the absence of a comprehensive chemicals policy in the country, is to strictly enforce product labeling requirements and issue product safety advisories and precautions on items containing toxic chemicals. To be able to do that, we call upon the government, particularly the DTI, to conduct random testing of usual school supplies, especially those products that are most popular and accessible to bargain hunting shoppers in Divisoria and other similar places.”

EcoWaste Coalition has zeroed in on the continued use of polyvinyl chloride (PVC), or plastic number 3, in school supplies and other children’s articles such as toys.

According to the group, PVC is called the “poison plastic” because of the health and environmental hazards it poses from its production (the use of cancer-causing chemicals to manufacture PVC), consumption (the leaching of chemical additives such as cadmium, lead, organotins, and phthalates), and disposal (the formation of dioxins when PVC is produced and burned).

Beware of these “P” words: phthalates or PVC softeners/plasticizers, which can leach out or evaporate over time and pose irreparable life-long health problems such as autism, asthma, and developmental, nervous, reproductive, and respiratory problems.   The truth is, in view of its grave risk to children’s health, the United States banned PVC in toys in 2008.

In 2008, EcoWaste collaborated with the US-based Center for Health, Environment and Justice (CHEJ) in releasing a report on vinyl shower curtains that can discharge toxic chemicals into the air. “Children are at risk from even small exposures to these toxic chemicals,” it notes with much concern. “That’s why it’s important to purchase PVC-free school supplies.”

A back-to-school guide to PVC-free school supplies, published by CHEJ, offers practical tips on how to avoid toxic school supplies. Listen up, kids and parents:

• 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.

• Use cardboard, fabric-covered or polypropylene binders. Most 3-ring binders are made of PVC.

There’s a wallet version of the guide you can download and take with you when you shop. Log on to http://www.chej.org/publications/PVCGuide/PVCwallet.pdf.

To help you make safer and non-toxic choices for your children, CHEJ gives these top specific tips, from A (as in art supplies) to U (as in umbrellas):

A. Art supplies

• Avoid modeling clays made of PVC. Polymer clays are often loaded with phthalates. Look for clays made without PVC and phthalates, or make your own (recipes are available online such as at http://www.theholidayzone.com/ recipes/dough.html).

B. Backpacks

• Avoid backpacks with shiny plastic designs as they often contain PVC and may contain lead.

C. Clothing and accessories

• Look for PVC-free materials in rainwear (i.e. rain boots and raincoats), prints on clothing, and accessories such as handbags, jewelry, and belts.

• In purchasing accessories like purses and jewelry, look for fabrics and other materials rather than plastics. Choices include jacquard, velvet, crinkled crepe, satin, wood, metal, pearl, rhinestone, etc.

D. Electronics

• Avoid electronics manufacturers who have not committed to phasing out PVC and other toxic chemicals in their production. For a list of companies that are going PVC-free, consult the latest edition of Greenpeace’s Greener Electronics Guide that can be found at http://www.greenpeace.org/usa/campaigns/toxics/hi-tech-highly-toxic.

• Buy electronics from companies who have pledged to responsibly “take it back” at the end of its useful life.

E. Food wrap

• Use PVC-free butcher paper, waxed paper, parchment paper, low-density polyethylene (LDPE) or cellulose bags.

• Ask the manager of your grocery store to stock PVC-free food wrap for meats and cheeses in the deli.

F. Lunchboxes

• Use cloth lunch bags or metal lunchboxes. Many lunch boxes are made of PVC, or coated with PVC on the inside.

G. Notebooks

• Avoid notebooks containing metal spirals encased in colored plastic. The colored plastic coating on the metal spirals usually contains PVC.

• Select notebooks with uncovered metal spirals to avoid PVC.

H. Organizers and address books

• Choose organizers/address books made with sustainably harvested wood, metal, or paper covers. Avoid those made of plastic — these sometimes contain PVC.

I. Packaging of school supplies

• Avoid single-use disposable packaging whenever possible.

• Avoid the three-arrow “recycling” symbol with the number 3 and/or the initials PVC, indicating it’s made with PVC. If no symbol is present, call the manufacturer’s question/comment line listed on the package to find out what it’s made of.

• Avoid products packaged in unlabeled plastics, such as clamshells and blister packs, which may contain PVC.

• Choose products with packaging made from more easily recycled materials like paper (look for those with higher post-consumer recycled content), paperboard, and glass.

J.  Paperclips

• Stick to the plain metal paperclips. Colored paper clips are coated with PVC.

K. Three-ring binders

Use cardboard, fabric-covered or polypropylene binders. Most 3-ring binders are made of PVC.

L. Umbrellas

• Avoid shiny and colorful plastic umbrellas as these are typically made out of PVC. Look for those made out of other materials such as nylon.

M. Utensils and dishware

• Use stainless steel utensils. If you require disposable dinnerware, look for bio-based (made with PLA or PHA plastics) cutlery and plates.

• Use glass or stainless steel drinking containers. If you require plastic, avoid PVC, polystyrene (PS), and polycarbonate (PC) plastics.

• Never microwave with plastics. Use glass, stoneware or ceramic dishware and containers instead. Heating plastic increases the chances of chemical additives such as bisphenol A, phthalates or other additives leaching into food and beverages.

Certainly, when it comes to our children, nothing is kid stuff! –Ching M. Alano (The Philippine Star)