JOC Staff | Dec 10, 2012 3:02PM EST
The seized holiday rubber ducks came dressed as Santa, snowmen, gingerbread men, reindeer or penguins. Photo courtesy U.S. CustomsU.S. Customs and Border Protection recently seized 35,712 imported holiday-themed rubber ducks, worth $18,522, at the Port of Los Angeles, on the grounds that they contained too much phthalate.
Phthalates are a group of chemicals used in plastic products to make them soft and flexible. U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission prohibits the sale, distribution or importation into the U.S. of any children’s product that contains more than 0.1 percent of di-(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate, dibutyl phthalate or benzyl butyl phthalate, as phthalates may be harmful to the health and safety of children.
The seizure reflects an unprecedented level of collaboration between Customs and CSPC professionals, said Todd C. Owen, Customs’ director of field operations in Los Angeles.
