Yet another victory and more good news for toy safety happened to day, with a judge ruling that toys and baby products with pthalates must be removed from the shelves.

“Today’s victory gives parents the certainty Congress tried to provide in the first place – that their children are safe from harmful chemicals in their toys,” said Aaron Colangelo, NRDC attorney. “This is a big win for children’s health and consumer safety.”

The NRDC filed a lawsuit against the CPSC in December after a loophole had been proposed to allow companies to continue selling pthalate-laden products so long as they were made prior to the ban date.

While some companies had already voluntarily vowed to remove any questionable products containing pthalates, the ban requires them to do so. Parents will still need to be vigilant about the toys they purchase.

With the proposed exemptions and year extension on the CPSIA for handmade toys, parents can still easily access safe toys without having to question whether their local big box store has followed through with the ban. But I’ll be curious to see exactly how quickly this happens and whether these toys will be showing up at discount stores and resale shops.

[picture via bitninja – Creative Commons]