The CPSC staff stopped short of recommending a ban on soft plastic toys made with phthalates, which help give vinyl its flexibility, after concluding that the amount of the chemicals ingested by small children "does not even come close to a harmful level."

But the agency decided to ask manufacturers to voluntarily remove the additives from some toys because significant uncertainties remain about the chemical.

It requested a voluntary ban on the use of a related phthalate additive in 1986 after studies showed it could cause cancer in animals.

About 90 per cent of the nation's toymakers have already told the agency that they will stop making phthalate tethers and rattles by early next year.

The CPSC advised parents that they should discard any soft plastic tethers,rattles or toys that their children may chew or hold in their mouths for long periods of time.

The environmental group Greenpeace earlier this month said significant levels of toxic chemicals had been found in soft vinyl toys and the plasticizers could leach from vinyl products into the mouths of children when chewed or sucked.

One industry official said that a decision in early November by leading toy retailer Toys R Us Inc and other stores to pull all phthalate tethers and rattles from its shelves was more critical to toymakers' decisions to substitute alternative chemicals than the CPSC request.

The agency was also asking the industry to reconfigure other soft vinyl toys containing phthalates -- such as bath toys and squeeze toys -- intended for children under age 3.

But the Toy Manufacturers Association said it was doubtful many companies would comply with the request. The CPSC said almost all baby-bottle nipples and pacifiers were made with latex or silicon and did not pose a health threat, butit urged parents to immediately discard the Clear and Soft line of pacifiers and nipples, made by Gerber Products Co. of Fremont, Mich.