Environmentalists brought an army of rubber duckies to the state Capitol Thursday. It was to convince the governor to make California the first state in the nation to ban the use of certain chemicals in children's toys. From Sacramento, Jenny O'Mara reports.
A thousand rubber duckies adorned tabletops in the governor's press room -- but these were phthalate-free. That chemical is used to make plastics soft, and has been linked to cancer.
The group Environment California is urging Schwarzenegger to sign the bill that would phase out the use of six kinds of phthalates in products for kids under three.
Kristina Acevedo brought her four children-including her 13-month-old to lobby for the bill.
Acevedo : And I think there's a lot of people that don't realize that these chemicals are in their children's toys, so I don't think you know what you're exposing your children to.
The Toy Industry Association and the American Chemistry Council say phthalates have been tested and found safe. They say being forced to use more brittle plastics could cause the toys to break and create choking hazards.
