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Who are the manufacturers who keep making these hazardous products?
“Amid the excitement over the May 2 bout at the MGM Grand Garden Arena between Pinoy boxing icon Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr., the EcoWaste Coalition has warned parents about buying boxing gloves for children which may contain substances harmful to their health,” reports Nathaniel R. Melican in Philippine Daily Inquirer.
The environmental group “revealed that two of three brands of toy boxing gloves for kids they bought recently in Divisoria and Quiapo, both in Manila, tested positive for phthalates, a chemical substance that is a ‘plasticizer’ which makes plastic soft and flexible.”
The report noted: “The toys were sent to an independent third party laboratory that examined the presence of phthalates, particularly DEHP, in the samples. Of the three pairs of gloves, only the brand Speed Games New Toys which cost PHP120 was negative for the toxic substance.”
The Toys Ultimate Spiderman brand, which sold for PHP100, had 9.05% DEHP, while the third pair worth PHP130 and called the People’s Champ had 3.16% DEHP. The DEHP content of the two brands were way above the 0.1% limit imposed by the Department of Health on the phthalates DEHP, DBP, and BBP found in children’s toys.
The report explained that “scientific studies linked these chemicals to genital abnormalities in boys such as deformed penises and undescended testicles.” That’s not all. The chemicals are “also believed to cause asthma, diabetes, obesity, and cancer.”
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