Press Release for Report Launching and Media Briefing on ‘Toxic Chemicals in Kids Stationaries: Phthalates in Erasers’
Toxic Chemicals in Erasers: Children at Health Risk!
4 types of harmful phthalate chemicals were found among 30 out of 47 tested samples
Dhaka 14th March 2022: Phthalate-a group of chemicals found in erasers are considered as endocrine disruptors and may also cause Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) syndrome, hormonal imbalance and affect the neurological developments of children. Today, Environment and Social Development (ESDO) released its new research report entitled ‘Toxic Chemicals in Kids Stationaries: Phthalates in Erasers’ virtually. The study was conducted collaboratively by ESDO in association with Financial Industry Public Interest Foundation and Wonjin Institute for Occupational and Environmental Health – WIOEH, Seoul, South Korea.
Phthalates are widely used as additives in a range of plastics and other materials that are found in many consumer products. They make plastics, such as PVC, soft and flexible. They are not chemically bound to plastics, so they can be released from consumer products into the environment, resulting in human exposure.
This study was conducted to assess the situation of phthalate presence in locally found erasers. Samples from 9 South Asian countries such as Bangladesh, Indonesia, Korea, Japan, Vietnam, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Nepal, and the Philippines were collected and sent to WIOEH for analysis. The analysis was done in two phases: PVC Screening & Phthalates Testing.
For the analysis, 47 erasers of various brands and colors were collected from random local shops in Bangladesh. Among the 47 tested samples, phthalates were found in 30 samples. PVC screening and phthalates testing were done in all the samples to analyze seven major phthalates. In 30 samples four major phthalates were found which were DiBP, DBP, DEHP, DEHP, and DiNP. These four phthalates were linked to liver damage, affecting reproduction system & causing allergies and asthma. Among the 30 detected samples, 21 samples exceeded the safety limit of phthalates.
A longitudinal study carried out in the USA proved the impacts of phthalates on the neurobehavioral development of children. The study of the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York, lasting nine years, showed a higher incidence of aggression, emotional instability, attention deficits, and depression among children.
Chief Guest of the event, Syed Marghub Murshed Chairperson of ESDO and Former Secretary of Bangladesh said, ‘Erasers are a very essential stationery for a kid and but it is unfortunate that these erasers are posing danger. ‘The government of Bangladesh needs to take initiatives to create public awareness about phthalates and their presence in everyday products’ he added.
Md. Moniruzzaman, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change graced the event as Guest of Honor. He said, “This is indeed an important finding. Our future generation will lead the world. Their safety should be our number one priority and awareness needs to be created as it is a very new topic to most of us”
Guest Speaker of the event, Dr. Yun-Keun Lee, Executive Director, Wonjin Institute for Occupational & Environmental Health (WIOEH) said, ‘ESDO and WIOEH have met and shared common interest to deal with EDCs (Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals) problem in consumer products in Asian countries and hopefully we can work on this more and aware people as much as possible.’
Another Guest Speaker, Dr. Md. Mahbubur Rahman, Project Coordinator, Environmental Intervention Unit, icddr,b said that Scientific studies proved relations between certain phthalates and reproductive toxicity, asthma in children, and also developmental disorders, such as ADHD syndrome, characterized by attention deficit and hyperactivity. More research should be executed for better understanding the effects of phthalates and impose immediate restrictions to import phthalates containing eraser & local production.
Dr. Shahriar Hossain, Secretary General of ESDO stated that many countries have already imposed a regulation on specific chemicals. For example, Korea has a regulation on phthalates and as a result, phthalates were found in only one of their samples. So, it shows that proper regulation can minimize the threat to a great extent. The government of Bangladesh should take this into account and impose a proper regulation on restricting phthalates content in products, particularly in children’s stationeries like erasers which they use daily.
Executive Director of ESDO Siddika Sultana said that Phthalates are called “endocrine disruptors” because they affect the body’s hormones. They interfere with the body’s natural levels of estrogen, testosterone, and other hormones. Their exposure should be limited until proper regulation is imposed to limit their use. Parents need to limit the number of baby care products they use on a baby, especially if he’s 8 months or younger.
Background
Phthalates are a group of chemicals used to make plastics more durable. They are often called plasticizers. Some phthalates are used to help dissolve other materials. The chemicals act as binding agents and also make plastics flexible. Phthalates are in hundreds of products, such as vinyl flooring, lubricating oils, and personal-care products (soaps, shampoos, hair sprays). Phthalates are considered “everywhere chemicals” as they can be found in a wide variety of products, including the water bottle we take to work, the floors in our bathroom, the shampoo in our shower, and the wrappers around our fast food. Phthalates are also widely employed in many personal care products, cosmetics as well as plastics (softening of products made by these materials, especially vinyl plastics), paper coating, paints, and adhesives. Shampoo, body deodorant, body wash, hairspray, and hair gels are examples.
For more information please contact:
Hridita Ferdous
Assistant Program Officer – ESDO
Email: info@esdo.org,
hridita@esdo.org
Mobile: +8801726053420
