Chemicals In Children’s Products

Oregon’s 2015 Toxic Free Kids Act requires reports from manufacturers on the presence of chemicals of concern in children’s products sold in Oregon. The first reports were due 1/1/2018.

Oregon’s law begins to fill the gaps in federal law when it comes to our understanding of how chemicals of concern appear in our daily lives. Federal law is based on the premise that the mere presence of a toxic chemical in a product can’t cause harm, unless it can get out of the product and into one’s body.

But as the Oregon Health Authority states on its web site, “There is a lot we don’t know about how people may be exposed to chemicals based on how they use a product, or how the product degrades over time.”

This data will be shared with other states through an interstate chemical clearinghouse. And under the Toxic Free Kids Act, manufacturers will begin replacing these chemicals with safer alternatives.