At a recent gathering of kindergarten mothers in Seattle, Shawn Lilley told the women that plastic bags and other containers can leach chemicals into food. Since then, a few more kindergartners have shown up with sandwiches in other containers.

“Shawn researches these kinds of things, and it’s not that much more expensive, so we switched,” said Linda Walker, who packs lunch daily for her three children.

Because of their lower body weight and proximity to the ground, where residue may linger, children feel the effects of chemicals more than adults.

The main suspects are a group of chemicals called phthalates which are used in making plastic bags. These have been found to be harmful in animal studies, said Dr. Wade Welshons of the University of Missouri in Columbia. And the Centers for Disease Control has detected them in the urine of a majority of the thousands of people it has tested in the United States.

Among other damage, these have also been branded gender benders as they inhibit the full genital and sexual development of male children.

Parents’ buying patterns can lead to industry changes. While phthalates can be used in some children’s toys in the United States, parental pressure led the Consumer Product Safety Commission in 1998 to ask manufacturers to take them out of teething rings and pacifiers.

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