Toy safety advocates are asking two Illinois congressmen to push for a ban on chemicals used to soften plastic toys such as bath time buddies -- even yellow duckies.

The suspect chemicals, phthalates (pronounced FAL-ates), are reportedly linked to serious health problems in children. These include early puberty for girls, exposing them to increased risk of breast cancer later in life, according to environmental health scientist Dr. Peter Orris of the University of Illinois in Chicago.

Orris said the chemicals “have no business in children’s toys.”  

While more research is needed on phthalates, “several studies in people have explored the possible associations with developmental and reproductive” problems, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Representatives Bobby Rush (D-Chicago) and Jan Schakowsky (D-Evanston) are serving on a bi-partisan conference committee that will decide whether Congress will support legislation to ban these chemicals. The “toxic toys” amendment to Senate Bill 2663 prohibits the use of phthalates in products for children. The House version of the bill does not. 

Widespread toy recalls from last year led to the passage of the contrasting product safety legislation by the House and Senate. Rush and Schakowsky’s committee is charged with evaluating both pieces of legislation and creating a unified bill.

"Representatives Rush and Schakowsky are both strong advocates for children's health and safety," said Brian Imus, director of Illinois Public Interest Research Group. "And now they have an opportunity to continue this leadership by ensuring that the ban on phthalates in children's products becomes law. Chicago parents everywhere are counting on them," he said.

Advocates plan to follow-up on a rally held in Chicago on Tuesday with phone calls and a continuing “get tough on toys” awareness campaign.

Meanwhile, retailers and companies including Wal-Mart, Toys-R-Us, Lego, Evenflo and Gerber have indicated plans to stop offering products with phthalates, according to the Illinois PIRG.

Stephanie Felten, a Chicago mother who founded an advocacy group to promote toy safety, called for more conclusive national studies to be conducted to evaluate the risks of chemicals used in toys. 

“My main concern is that my child’s body is providing the burden of proof, instead of manufacturers providing the burden of proof for the safety of products,” Felten said. Parents have enough to worry about and should be able to trust children’s products, she said. 

But Bob Johnson, president of the Child Safety Task Force, called efforts such as Tuesday’s Chicago rally against phthalates “well intentioned but short-sighted.”

"Phthalates have been in use for five decades, and there has never been any learned government study that shows they are unsafe,” Johnson said. “The issue shouldn’t be whether phthalates are safe, the issue should be rather that toys are safe,” he said.

Johnson said national toy safety needs a more comprehensive approach. The Consumer Product Safety Commission should test all of the potential plasticizers to determine safe levels for usage, he said.

“If phthalates are banned, as they were in California, the problem is that the need for children’s toys that are soft and pliable doesn’t go away,” Johnson said. “You’re going to inevitably require some substitute compound. Those ‘something elses’ haven’t been tested at all,” he said.

Johnson said parents who still feel vulnerable after last year's alarming number of toy recalls are latching onto fears that aren’t scientifically-based.

“As a result of the lead scare, some people have extended that hysteria to other compounds," said Johnson, who maintains there have been no major studies done on the health risks of the chemicals in question. "The appropriate response isn’t to overreact and invite untested compounds into the marketplace.”

Health experts and advocates have varied opinions regarding the purported link between serious health problems and phthalates. But individuals on both sides of the debate agreed the government needs to play a stronger role in the evaluation and regulation of chemicals used in children's products. Without that control, the government is failing parents, said Sarah Chusid of the local advocacy group Kids in Danger..

“Parents can’t protect their children from hidden toxins in toys, cribs and other products," Chusid said. "We must rely on strong regulations, responsible manufacturing and adequate testing to make sure our children stay safe from these pervasive chemicals.”