Take that out of your mouth

Was it Bert or Ernie who sang, “Rubber ducky, you’re the one. You make bath time lots of fun?” Whoever it was must not have known that rubber duckies and other plastic toys may be causing serious health problems for infants who end up ingesting the harmful phthalates used to make many plastics more flexible. Though industry reps say there is no conclusive evidence directly linking phthalates to health problems, that hasn’t stopped the European Union and 14 other nations from pre-emptively banning the use of such chemicals in manufacturing children’s toys. Assemblywoman Fiona Ma, D-San Francisco, is trying to do the same with AB 1108, a bill banning phthalate-containing toxic toys that cleared the Senate in September and now sits on the governor’s desk.