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Target Stores Move To Reduce Toxic Toys

A major retail chain with 16 stores in San Diego County is planning to reduce its use of PVC plastic. PVC, commonly called vinyl, often contains harmful toxic additives such as lead that cause a varie

Target Stores Move To Reduce Toxic Toys

A major retail chain with 16 stores in San Diego County is planning to reduce its use of PVC plastic. PVC, commonly called vinyl, often contains harmful toxic additives such as lead that cause a variety of health problems. KPBS reporter Ed Joyce has details.

Target stores plan to cut use of polyvinyl chloride or PVC plastic. Toxic substances in PVC, including phthalates, cause learning and developmental problems and reproductive harm.

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Charles Margulis is with the California Center for Environmental Health.

Margulis : Target being one of the largest retailers in the country eliminating PVC which is a poison plastic, is a major sign to other companies, manufacturers and retailers, that they need to start doing the same. That they need to look at the environmental effects of the products that they're selling.

Last year, the Center for Environmental Health sued Target for selling lead-tainted PVC lunchboxes. Target says all children's lunch boxes and utensils in its own brands are now PVC-free, and that in some products it will use phthalate-free PVC. Phthalates have been linked to health problems in boys and girls. California recently banned certain phthalates in products for young children.

Ed Joyce, KPBS News.