The NRDC was unsatisfied with the CPSC's decision, and began pressuring
Congress to ban all phthalates, despite the scientific proof. But last
summer, the Democratically-controlled Congress recognized there is no
scientific basis for doing so. Congress passed the Consumer Product
Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) with a phthalates provision that was
based on science and not politics. While the law bans a few phthalates
that have shown potential health concerns, the law places only a
temporary prohibition on safe phthalates like DINP, calling for more
testing on these compounds to assure groups like the NRDC of their
safety. But clearly scientific evidence won't stop the NRDC from trying
to use the Courts to push their agenda.
The NRDC filed yet another lawsuit just this month in another effort to
push their anti-phthalate agenda. This time the NRDC accuses the CPSC of
failing to enforce the new phthalates legislation under Congress'
intent. The NRDC claims the CPSC allowed retailers to sell "dangerous"
toys during the Holiday season because the new legislation will not go
into effect until February. But the phthalates in these toys were never
found to be dangerous in the first place. The NRDC is dragging a
government agency through an exhaustive lawsuit over a matter of weeks,
when DINP has been used for decades!
Hopefully their fear tactics will fail again. One thing is clear, their
cases against the CPSC is not likely to succeed. The FOIA rules are
designed to give the public a window into the information used by their
government, not to be used as a hammer to force the government to adopt
the policies of special interest groups. And it was Congress' intent for
dangerous toys to be taken off the shelves, not safe ones.
In a time when the economy is faltering and Wall Street is teetering,
one would hope that we could put the brakes on the excesses of these
groups, especially those misusing the courts for their own
anti-technology agendas.