California may soon become the first US state to adopt legislation banning the manufacture and sale of children's products containing certain chemicals designed to soften plastics. The initiative follows mounting scientific evidence in recent years about the potential harm of phthalates and so-called endocrine disruptors such as Bisphenol A (BPA). If bill AB 319, introduced by Assembly-member Wilma Chan (D-Oakland), passes, California would be the first state to follow the lead set by a European Union directive six years ago that put an emergency ban on baby toys made from plastics containing phthalates. At the time, European ministers said their decision was based on the "precautionary principle" and they would review it "in the light of new scientific data."