Parents warned against buying toxic school items

MANILA, Philippines - Parents were warned yesterday against buying school items containing toxic chemicals.

Waste and pollution watchdog Ecological Waste Coalition (EcoWaste) said these chemicals can affect a child’s mental and behavioral development.

Sonia Mendoza of EcoWaste and Mother Earth Foundation said PVC plastic, often labeled as “vinyl” or plastic # 3, contains poisonous additives like phthalates that can eventually seep out or disperse into the air, posing risks to children’s health.

“We are particularly uneasy with the obviously unregulated glut of school supplies that are made out of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) plastic such as backpacks, binders, lunch boxes and clear plastic sheets as book and notebook cover. Consumers need to be watchful of these toxic buys,” she said.

Mendoza said teachers should not require students to use plastic sheets as cover for books and notebooks.

Manila paper, old calendars and used magazines are good cover materials for books and notebooks, she added.

Manny Alonzo, EcoWaste president, said the disposal of PVC products is also a complicated problem since these products discharge dioxins, the most toxic substance known to science, and do not biodegrade when burned.

“Given the known health and environmental risks, we urge consumers to be on the side of precaution and go for safer, healthy and ecological alternatives to PVC school products,” he said.

EcoWaste said alternatives to PVC school products are:

• Cloth, nylon and polyester backpacks;

• Cardboard, fabric or poly plastic binders; 

• Cloth lunch bags; and

• Unlined stainless steel or opaque plastic bottles.

Quoting the World Health Organization (WHO), EcoWaste said children are exposed to a large number of chemicals of both natural and man-made origin. – Katherine Adraneda