Phthalates, a commonly used group of plasticizers that has been the backbone of PVC compounds for about as long as there have been flexible PVC compounds.

Under a law first enacted in CA, which has spread nationally and signed into Federal Law in August of 2008 by President Bush, Section 108 of the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) prohibits the manufacture, import, distribution or sale of children's toys or child care articles containing more than 0.10% of DIDP, DINP and DnOP.

If all that wasn't enough, this new regulation provides for civil and criminal penalties of $100,000 per violation up to $15 million total. The law also provides for possible imprisonment of the offenders.

The US manufactures about $1.4 billion worth of phthalates annually and of course there is considerable imported product coming from Europe and Asia. The American Chemistry Council (ACC) estimates that only about 5% of all phthalates are used in childrens' products.

So what is a flexible PVC compounder that has been using phthalates forever, to do?

Monson Companies offers and extensive line of environmentally friendly Non-Phthalate Plasticizers that include:

Adipates
Benzoate Ester Plasticizers
Citrate based Plasticizers
Epoxidized Soybean Oil
Maleates
Mononmeric Plasticizers
Phosphate Esters
Polymeric Plasticizers
Sebacates
Secondary Plasticizers
Trimellitates