The Natural Resources Defense Council and Public Citizen have sued the Consumer Product Safety Commission over its loose interpretation of the upcoming ban on phthalates. NRDC's Sarah Janssen writes:

In the case of toys and other childcare articles, the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) is responsible for ensuring their safety. However, just recently, the CPSC announced a legal interpretation of the new law which stated that any phthalate containing toys manufactured up until Feb. 10, 2009 could continue to be sold in stores until their stocks are depleted. In other words, with stockpiles of phthalate-containing toys out there - parents can't even be assured that come next holiday shopping season toys on the shelves will be phthalate-free. [Link]

From a press release:

"The Consumer Product Safety Commission is ignoring the will of Congress and threatening our children's health," said Dr. Sarah Janssen, NRDC scientist. "Overwhelming evidence led Congress to ban these toys, a ban that some retailers have already started to adopt. The CPSC decision completely undermines those efforts by allowing banned toys to sit on the same shelves as the safe ones."

Their description of what happened:

In response to heightened concern about risks to children from certain harmful phthalates and other chemicals in children's products, Congress, by an overwhelming majority, passed the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA), which was signed into law by President Bush on August 14, 2008. This Act permanently bans the sale, after February 10, 2009, of toys and child care products that contain certain phthalates and lead. The final Senate vote for this ban was 89-3, and the final House vote was 424-1.

The law passed in the U.S. bans the same six phthalates that have been banned in European toys for nearly 10 years. Other countries, including Argentina, Japan, Israel and Mexico have also banned phthalates from children's toys. Several major retailers have previously announced that, by the end of 2008, they would remove phthalate-containing toys from their stores.

In a letter dated November 13, 2008, the law firm Arent Fox, on behalf of unidentified clients, asked the CPSC to only apply the U.S. ban to the production - and not sale - of toys with phthalates. In a legal opinion published only two business days later, on November 17, 2008, the CPSC General Counsel agreed. As a result, manufacturers can stockpile toys and child care products with the banned phthalates right up to the date of the ban, and then sell them to consumers long after the ban was supposed to go into effect.

Over at the NRDC's Simple Steps blog for parents, they're specifically recommending the ZRecs Guide as a trusted resource for finding phthalate- and PVC-free toys, as well as calling customer service reps yourself:

Toy manufacturers both in the US and abroad are already making toys that don't contain phthalates. Parents just need to find them. Call customer service and ask the manufacturer if their products contain phthalates. If they can't tell you whether or not the toy is phthalate-free, find another that is. Check healthytoys.org or the ZRecs guide to safer children's products. Avoid buy anything that is made of PVC plastic and buy fragrance-free personal care products. Ethylene Vinyl Acetate (EVA) is a soft plastic that is bisphenol A (BPA) and phthalate-free. [Link]

Our one caveat regarding doing your own research is that CSR data can be slippery. Call more than once, and you may get more than one different answer. We work companies from multiple angles to collect and verify the data we publish.

This story is developing; we'll publish updates as we get them.