Some pool toys could be releasing nasty chemcials into the water...and onto you.

RODALE NEWS, EMMAUS, PA—Summer invariably brings with it afternoons at the pool, floating on rafts, sitting in inflatable rubber duckies, beating each other over the head with pool noodles. All in good fun, of course! Problem is, most pool toys—inflatable water wings, rafts, rigid foam kickboards, and the inflatable pools themselves—are made with polyvinyl chloride, or PVC. This toxic plastic contains hormone-disrupting chemicals called phthalates, which have also been linked to asthma, obesity, and lowered IQ in children.

Phthalates migrate out of PVC products when they're exposed to heat, and can be absorbed through your skin or taken in orally—such as when kids handle the plastics and then put their hands in their mouths. So you can imagine how much you're being exposed to it while lounging on a raft that's been sitting in 90-degree heat all day.

Producing all those PVC pool toys takes a toll on the environment, as well. PVC factories release cancer-causing dioxin as a by-product, and a recent CNN documentary, "Toxic Towns," reported that residents in one Louisiana town near a PVC-production facility had dioxin levels three times higher than the national average. As a result, residents were suffering from higher rates of cancer, kidney problems, and reproductive disorders.

Fortunately, there are plenty of fun alternatives to these ubiquitous PVC pool toys. Here’s what you need to know:

• Avoid #3. First and foremost, avoid any pool toy that's labeled as a #3 plastic. To determine this, look for the standard recycling triangle, and if you see a "3," "V," or "PVC" inside of it, this means the product is made from PVC and should be avoided.