Phthphthlal-whats?

You've probably heard of phthalates. If you're reading this blog, you're even more likely to have done so. If you buy lotions and potions from the health food store, you might have read, "paraben-free, phthalate-free" - something like that - on the back of the bottle. (Mainstream producers such as Johnson & Johnson have now followed suit and removed them too, while stressing how safe they are at the same time. Hmmm, nothing like defending your market share).

You may even know that phthalates come from the plastics/petroleum industry. 

But short of a boring old chemistry lesson, what exactly ARE they? Well, apparently there are more than 20 of them. Some are more harmful than others, and they have such catchy names as Dimethyl phthalate (DMP), Di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP/DOP) and Dipropylheptyl phthalate (DiPHepP).

Around two million tons of the things are produced across the world each year - so where do they all end up?

Herein lies the rub(ber duckie). Just about everywhere!  Car parts, vinyl floors, hoses, pool liners, toys, sporting goods, medical tubing and catheters, footwear, raincoats, cosmetics, perfume and nail polish, wiring and cabling.... phew!! Bascially, you can't avoid them in modern life.

They're a liquid petroleum product that makes plastic soft. (Plastic as a word has been with us before modern plastics - it basically means pliable (Latin plasticus of molding, from Greek plastikos, from plassein to mold, form)). But I digress...

One of the reasons the modern world loves plastic is its sheer, undeniable versatility. It can be hard, like the dashboard in your car, or soft like cling wrap, and then anything in between - phthalates act as a plasticizer; the more phthalates (pronounced thalates - silent "ph") the softer, or bendier, the plastic.

How "fresh" is air freshener? Read more here
http://content.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1664954,00.html

Sadly, the not altogether unpleasant smell of phthalates (PVC) was the smell of Christmas for myself and my siblings. A lovely big blow-up beach ball, dolls.... any toy in general from the '70s.

The other main use for phthalates is as an additive (they're liquid, remember) in cleaning products, cosmetics and perfumes. Apparently they help fragrance to linger longer. Which means many people apply them to their skin, armpits, face, and hair every day, several times - and there's no requirement that they be listed on the label. We now know that what we put on our skin ends up in our bloodstream.

There are now studies suggesting that some of these phthalates are affecting human hormones. They have been linked to early-onset puberty in girls, reduced sperm production, undescended testes, hypospadias, decreased testosterone production, and reduced anogenital distance. Just like BPA, phthalates have been found in umbilical cord blood and breast milk.

Results in rats, and some studies in humans, have led the European Union and the United States to ban some phthalates in toys. Unfortunately, not so here in Australia.

More information

Phthalates and asthma
http://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/2014/sep/17/health-asthma-plastic-pregnancy-children-home-phthalates 
http://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/wp-content/uploads/advpub/2014/9/ehp.1307670.pdf 
http://time.com/3393376/phthalates-linked-to-asthma/ 
Phthalates and anogenital difference in baby boys
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/plastic-chemical-linked-to-changes-in-baby-boys-genitals/
http://www.environmentalhealthnews.org/ehs/news/2014/oct/plastics-chemical-and-boys-genitals
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24349678
Phthalates and antiandrogenic traits
http://www.medpagetoday.com/InfectiousDisease/PublicHealth/12767
Phthalates found in umbilical cord and maternal blood
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18788582
Phthalates in breast milk and effects on babies' hormones
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1367843/
Endocrine disruption in girls
http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2013/nov/04/why-is-puberty-starting-younger-precocious
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23945596
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22428786
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3065309/

General
http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/are-parabens-and-phthalates-harmful-in-makeup-and-lotions/2014/08/29/aa7f9d34-2c6f-11e4-994d-202962a9150c_story.html
http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/504892/Loom-Band-Charms-Harmful-Chemicals-Plastic-Dangerous
http://www.cbs.com/shows/60_minutes/video/1500260381/phthalates-are-they-safe