Babies and toddlers should not swallow hazardous chemicals. But they do. Every time they play with a soft PVC toy.
Chemicals called phthalates (pronounced tha-lates) have been banned from use in all babies toys in 7 European countries, but soft PVC toys containing phthalates remain on sale throughout the UK.
Soft PVC toys contain phthalates to make them soft. (You can often smell these chemicals, or the vanilla essence used to disguise the smell, when you open the packaging).
