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July 27, 2005

Pffft for Phthalates

A recent discussion on phthalates has been circulating on my class listserv. After reading a lot about the issue, I'm more than a little worried and thought I'd summarize my research.

First, what is a phthalate?

According to the Phthalates Information Center:

Although you never see them, phthalates play an important part in making everyday life more convenient, colorful, and fun. Thanks to their varying characteristics, this family of workhorse chemicals makes a wide range of consumer and industrial products work better for us.

Dozens of phthalates have been developed over the years, and some have been in use for nearly a century. The dozen or so types in general use today have some traits in common – they are clear liquids resembling common vegetable oil, have little or no smell, and do not readily evaporate. They all break down rapidly in the environment and in living organisms.

In my opinion, the first problem with the Phthalates Information Center is the general vaugeness of the information presented. Ooh, "workhorse chemicals" that make my "everyday life more convenient, colorful, and fun"--sign me up!

The real information is much more complex. According to Our Stolen Future, one of the most credible groups decrying phthalates:

Phthalates are a class of widely used industrial compounds known technically as dialkyl or alkyl aryl esters of 1,2-benzenedicarboxylic acid. There are many phthalates with many uses, and just as many toxicological properties.

Phthalates crept into widespread use over the last several decades because of their many beneficial chemical properties. Now they are ubiquitous, not just in the products in which they are intentionally used, but also as contaminants in just about anything. About a billion pounds per year are produced worldwide.

So what's the problem?

Many, MANY people are worried about the health effects of these chemicals, believing they have a role in the following health problems:

- Asthma
- Cancer
- Endocrine Disruptors
- Sick Building Syndrome

Our Stolen Future has a great article summarizing the general health concerns associated with phthalates--information you won't find at the Phthalates Information Center. Some of the highlights include:

- An explanation of why traditional approaches to toxicology don't work with chemicals like phthalates (even though the chemicals industry pretends that they do).
- How extremely low doses of phthalates can change the male reproductive development, which is acutely sensitive to some phthalates. For example, the "phthalates dibutyl phthalate (DBP) and diethylhexyl phthalate (DEHP) produced dramatic changes in male sexual characteristics when exposure took place in utero, at levels far beneath those of previous toxicological concern."
- A section on the debate between regulation and public health concerns. As the article points out:

The debate heated up further in the US when an industry PR firm that masquerades as a public health organization, the American Council on Science and Health, put together a panel to review the safety of phthalates. Headed by retired Surgeon General C. Everett Koop, the panel ultimately issued a flawed report that concluded phthalates were safe. Their report failed to consider several key recent publications and misrepresented another, citing the latter as stating that no kidney damage was caused when in fact the research did not assess kidney damage. They committed an even more basic error, moreover, by accepting the absence of data as proof of safety. Absence of data proves only ignorance. A devastating critique of this report was published by Health Care Without Harm.

Our Stolen Future has further publicized a number of important stories on phthalates, including the following:

- Our Stolen Future: Phthalate levels in children
- Our Stolen Future: Phthalate exposures in the general population higher than expected
- Our Stolen Future: Phthalate alters gene expression at low levels
- Our Stolen Future: Phthalate contamination of infants from neonatal intensive care units

(For the very latest news on the effect of on unborn children, check out last month's press release from Health Care Without Harm on the annual meeting of the Endocrine Society.)

Of course, the Phthalates Information Center disputes this claim, with all the panache of an industry trade group.

The Industry Response

Not to worry, says the Phthalates Information Center:

Phthalates have established a very strong safety profile over the 50 years in which they have been in general use. There is no reliable evidence that any phthalate has ever caused a health problem for a human from its intended use.

Some advocacy groups complain that phthalates are all around us, and therefore must pose some special kind of concern. But recent government data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that human exposure levels are far below minimum safety levels set by regulatory agencies. And because phthalates have been around for so long, and are so widely used, they are also one of the most widely studied and well understood families of chemicals.

What a relief!! Oh wait, all these research studies were funded by the phthalate producers themselves (the Foundation Panel Members--the ones funding the research--include BASF Corporation, Eastman Chemical Company, ExxonMobil Chemical Company**, Ferro Corporation, and Teknor Apex). Come to think of it, the Phthalates Information Center is itself a website run by the American Chemistry Council--no conflict of interest there!

The Phthalates Information Center, along with its member organizations, throws a lot of vague information out to dispute findings that phthalates may be dangerous, even publishing critiques of specific studies. But authors of the original reports have always been able to justify their findings, as shown in this latest example.

**If the fact that ExxonMobile is connected to this organization doesn't immediately make you question the validity of the Phthalates Information Center, you are too dumb to be reading this entry. I refer you instead to ExxonMobile's generous funding of the Global Climate Coalition, an industry group created solely to give the public the false idea that actual scientific dialogue was occurring around the existence of climate change.

How to Respond

The problem with phthalates is that they are EVERYWHERE. (Just check out Not Too Pretty for a list of beauty products with phthalates in them). What's more, it can be impossible to determine which untested products have them. As my friend Susan wrote:

For years I have used co-op bulk shampoos and conditioners after reading the labels because I wanted to make sure I was not putting anything harmful on my body. Then, while in humid Tennessee and Georgia recently, I got tired of having a three foot afro and decided to try Pantene Pro V conditioner for "smooth and silky hair." Turns out a few of Pantene's products were listed as having phthalates. I called the number on the back of the bottle to find out if my newly purchased product did and they said I had to get a doctor's note on letterhead specifically requesting to know if a certain ingredient is present due to concern for allergies or some other health condition before they would tell me! (because under law they are only required to list "fragrance" on the label).

It's disheartening to think that there is virtually no way to avoid phthalates (or the hundreds of other chemicals) that are invading our bodies every day. Just this week, in fact, the LA Times ran a story on the new CDC report on human exposures to chemicals. The main finding?

In the largest study of chemical exposure ever conducted on human beings, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Thursday that most American children and adults were carrying in their bodies dozens of pesticides and toxic compounds used in consumer products, many of them linked to potential health threats.

Right now, it's not clear to me what the right course of action is. I can certainly buy phthalate-free brands of personal care products, but I can't really avoid all the other phthalate-drenched products (although I could eschew the phthalate-caused "new car smell").

While the evidence against phthalates seems to be growing, I'm not sure where the leverage point is. Certainly, governments could be regulating (or preventing) phthalates from being produced. But industry could also take the lead (excuse me while I insert an ironic laugh). But what is my role? It doesn't quite seem like the kind of thing for which a letter-writing campaign would be suited.

And now, I will go be sad and depressed, and probably phthalate-ridden.

Comments

Posted by: Mr. Bad Apologies at July 28, 2005 09:58 AM

Posted by: James Saunders at January 30, 2007 05:21 AM

Posted by: James at March 29, 2007 11:19 AM

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