The Natural Resources Defense Council and Public Citizen have sued the Consumer Product Safety Commission in an effort to keep toys and childcare products containing possibly harmful chemicals called phthalates off store shelves this winter.

The lawsuit comes after the CPSC recently reinterpreted the law that would ban phthalates in toys after Feb. 10, 2009.

Some consumer advocates believe this change would allow retailers to stockpile and continue selling possibly dangerous products as long as they were manufactured before the Feb. ban date.

This summer Congress passed the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act which permanently bans the sale of toys and child care products that contain certain phthalates and lead.

Phthalates are chemicals used to soften plastics in many common consumer products, including children’s toys. Animal studies show a possible link between the chemicals and the production of some hormones that may cause reproductive abnormalities.

The law passed in the U.S. bans the same six phthalates that have been banned in European toys for nearly 10 years. Several major retailers have said by the end of 2008, they would remove phthalate-containing toys from their stores.

In Nov. the CPSC was asked to apply the ban to the production and not the sale of toys with phthalates.

Watch Julie Vallese from the Consumer Product Safety Commission defend change in toxic toy rule.
CPSC Defends Toxic Toy Rule

The CPSC agreed and as a result manufacturers can now stockpile toys and child care products containing 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.

WATCH:Toys Containing Chemical Still On Store Shelves