The European Commission has approved a ban on the sale of children's teething rings, and other toys designed to be put into infants' mouths, which contain chemicals designed to make plastics softer.
A total of six chemicals from a group called phthalates, extensively used in children's toys, are to be banned from next month, under a product safety directive issued yesterday.
The ban was proposed jointly by EU commissioners Mr David Byrne and Mr Erkki Liikanen. They said the move "was designed to protect the youngest and most vulnerable amongst us".
Toys which are not specifically designed for children to put in their mouths but which are likely to be chewed by small children will require labelling warning parents of the danger of prolonged chewing.
Such products have been assessed as posing a considerably lower risk.
Phthalates are more commonly known as "soft pvc" and are widely used in the manufacture of many plastics, especially children's toys. They have been shown to cause liver, kidney and testicular damage. The Commission concluded that they are released in dangerous quantities when soft PVC teethers or dummies, rattles and other soft toys for young children are sucked and chewed over extended periods by babies, in particular those of "teething" age.
However, the Commission drew a distinction between "soft PVC" toys which were deliberately designed to be placed in an infant's mouth, and other soft PVC toys aimed at older children. It is considering a ban on toys in the latter category.
The ban is further complicated by the fact that while the Commission has declared that the toys "pose a serious risk to child health", the toys on sale now and which are to be withdrawn do not, in the main, carry a label indicating the presence of soft PVC. Some 30 per cent of teethers, dummies, rattles and similar products are expected to be affected.
Yesterday a spokesman for the EU Commission said it would be up to suppliers to recognise which toys were affected and withdraw them from sale. He said a similar obligation would be placed on retailers.
The chemist chain Boots issued a statement last night saying it sold no rattles, teethers or toys intended to be placed in the mouths of children under three years of age which contained phthalate chemicals.
The Commission agreed to a recommendation from Mr Byrne for further long-term EU legislation to regulate the use of phthalates.
This ban and regulation follow testing which has shown that current methods of distinguishing between safe and unsafe phthalate products are not reliable. The decision was welcomed by the European consumers' organisation BEUC, which has been pressing for the ban for some time. A statement from its chairman, Mr Jim Murray, said that "we would have preferred the ban to apply to all products likely to be put in the mouths of children under three (and not just those intended for the mouths of small children) but it is some progress at least to require that such products be labelled."
The Leinster Green Party MEP Ms Nuala Ahern, who campaigned for a ban last year, said last night that she "cautiously welcomed" the ban.