Brenda Watson and Leonard Smith
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 The highest chemical exposures they had? phthalates (pronounced ^?a/-ates), a class of chemicals used to soften plastic and a primary component of the polyvinyl chloride in cars that gives off that "new car smell" from the interior.
Phthalates are also used as gelling agents and fixatives in cosmetics and grooming products; they are what make drug capsules soft and baby books for bathtubs squishy. If you recall that tangy taste of water from a hose, that's the phthalates used to give the plastic in the hose its flexibility. |
Andreas Moritz
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 Federal law allows fragrance makers to include potentially hazardous chemicals in their products, including the highly toxic phthalates and artificial musk. Most fragrances contain phthalates. They are added to plastic to soften it. When absorbed by the skin, they act as the most powerful estrogens ever known. And abnormal estrogen levels cause cancer. Synthetically produced musk is linked to skin irritation, hormone disruption, and cancer as well. Natural fragrances emitted from aroma oils are beneficial for the body. |
Mike Adams, the Health Ranger
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 Only two products tested by the NRDC -- Febreze Air Effects and Renuzit Subtle Effects -- contained virtually no detectable levels of phthalates, yet the twelve other products tested positive for the chemical even though some were labeled "unscented" and none of them listed phthalates as an ingredient. Some products were even labeled "All natural!" (Which just goes to demonstrate, yet again, that the "All natural" claim is meaningless. |
Brenda Watson and Leonard Smith
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| If you recall that tangy taste of water from a hose, that's the phthalates used to give the plastic in the hose its flexibility. The article was quick to point out the fact that male politicians are exposed more than most men to these toxins because they typically have makeup applied before appearing in television studios. What if the politicians were women who wear makeup every day? Male fetuses exposed to phthalates in the womb may result in malformation of the reproductive tract and decreased semen quality later in life. |
Mike Adams, the Health Ranger
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| Only two products tested by the NRDC -- Febreze Air Effects and Renuzit Subtle Effects -- contained virtually no detectable levels of phthalates, yet the twelve other products tested positive for the chemical even though some were labeled "unscented" and none of them listed phthalates as an ingredient. Some products were even labeled "All natural!" (Which just goes to demonstrate, yet again, that the "All natural" claim is meaningless. |
C. W. Randolph, M.D.
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 The Safe Cosmetics Campaign began in 2002 with the release of a report, Not Too Pretty: phthalates, Beauty Products and the FDA. For the report, environmental and public health groups contracted with a laboratory to test seventy-two name-brand, off-the-shelf beauty products for the presence of phthalates, a family of industrial chemicals linked to permanent birth defects in the male reproductive system. |
Mike Adams, the Health Ranger
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 Recent research shows that even air fresheners are contaminated with phthalates, and new details about cancer-causing chemicals in household products seem to emerge every week.
But when it comes to preventing cancer, the cancer industry is silent. Why should they say anything, anyway? If they teach women how to prevent breast cancer, they lose customers. Besides, the scheme they're running right now is working brilliantly. |
Donna Jackson Nakazawa
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 These chemicals included pesticides, phthalates, dioxins, flame retardants, and breakdown chemicals of Teflon, among other chemicals known to damage the immune system. Shortly after, investigators in the Netherlands turned up similar findings: they discovered an array of chemicals commonly found in household cleaners, cosmetics, and furniture in the cord blood of thirty newborns.
OUR AUTOGEN-FILLED WORLD: HOW DID WE BECOME SO CONTAMINATED?
How do these chemicals creep into our bodies? |
| Another well-known endocrine disruptor comes in the form of a group of chemicals known as phthalates, which are added to cosmetics to make them creamier, to plastic bottles and plastics in general to make them more flexible and less brittle, to children's toys to make them more pliable, as well as to insecticides. |
| Studies show that many perfumes and colognes often contain phthalates and parabens (both of which are known endocrine disruptors). Instead, look for organic products that have joined the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, such as the Body Shop, Burt's Bees, Kiss My Face, Aubrey Organics, Avalon Natural Products, and Terr Essentials. Or visit thinkbeforeyoupink.org for a list of companies that produce products that are paraben and phthalate free.
AVOID DARK HAIR DYES. As we learned when we went through Becky's day, women who use dark hair dye have three times the risk of developing lupus. |
Stacy Malkan
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 Wust Pine Street, Missoula, MT 59802
Tte ad ran in the Washington Post on the same day the industry's self-policing Cosmetic Ingredient Review panel ruled that phthalates are "safe as currently used."
Hi Mary Anne,
Thanks for writing! We have no information on this subject. Products from other countries may have some different ingredients because of what is best for their environment. United States has the safest products that our laws will allow both for the consumer and the environment. Please be assured, we would not allow a product to be sold if there was any danger in harming anyone. |
KC Craichy
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 International use of phthalates includes softeners of plastics, oily substances in perfumes, additives to hair sprays, lubricants, wood finishers, and millions of other manufactured products. They have been known to cause genital abnormalities in males and are contributing to the rise in hypospadia, a birth defect. phthalates, such as those found in perfumes, are also toxic (poisonous) to both the fetus and babies. |
Mark Schapiro
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 As an engineer, every material has a purpose. phthalates, BPA, lead, chromium, cadmium, everything is there for a reason, for its particular properties. They work, they answer a question. Now, as we're becoming more aware of their other attributes, questions are arising as to whether they are the right answer."b
Kirschener chuckled nervously. "We've been in reactive hell," he said. "It's been unnerving not to be part of all these changes. Companies in this industry have been going through a twelve-step process. First step is to admit that you make electrical products." He laughs. |
C. W. Randolph, M.D.
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| For the report, environmental and public health groups contracted with a laboratory to test seventy-two name-brand, off-the-shelf beauty products for the presence of phthalates, a family of industrial chemicals linked to permanent birth defects in the male reproductive system.
You can find a listing of who has pledged not to use harmful chemicals and to implement substitution plans that replace hazardous materials with safer alternatives in every market they serve on the Safe Cosmetics Campaign website: www.safecosmetics.org/companies/signers.cfm. |
Donna Jackson Nakazawa
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| In a 2005 study, researchers found 287 industrial chemicals, including pesticides, phthalates, dioxins, flame-retardants, and the breakdown chemicals of Teflon, in the fetal cord blood of ten newborn infants from around the country—transmitted to the infants by their mothers' exposures before and during pregnancy.
We are facing both an increasing prevalence of autoimmunity and an increasing exposure to environmental toxins. Is it clear that the increased exposure of environmental toxins is causing the increase in autoimmunity? |
Stacy Malkan
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| Health Care Without Harm was pushing hospitals to phase out medical devices made of vinyl plastic, which created dioxin when manufactured and burned, and which also had a second problem: they leached phthalates into patients. Vinyl medical devices such as IV bags were softened with di-2-ethylhexyl phthalate (DEHP), a close cousin of the phthalate Jane found in the nail polish. |
Donna Jackson Nakazawa
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| To date, Procter & Gamble, Estee Lauder, and several others have eliminated phthalates from their nail polish. (Ingredient labels on nail polish sold in retail stores must now state whether it contains phthalate as an ingredient, although salon nail polish does not have to.)
WASH YOUR HANDS! A recent study found that people infected with rhi-novirus, the cause of half of all colds, contaminate many of the objects they touch, leaving an infectious path for those who follow them. |
Mike Adams, the Health Ranger
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 REPPED: American consumers are increasingly aware that plastics contain bisphenol-A, air fresheners contain phthalates, and antibacterial soaps contain a chemical called Triclosan, but few people realize that laundry detergent products often contain synthetic chemicals that pose a hazard to human health as well as the environment. |
Mike Adams, the Health Ranger
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| Believe me: The discovery of phthalates in air freshener products is just the tip of the iceberg. What other chemicals lurk in these same air freshener products? And can you imagine all the toxic chemicals found in high-fragrance shampoos, nail polish, makeup remover and dryer sheets? When the truth comes out about those products someday, consumers are going to shocked to discover just how toxic their homes (and bodies) have become thanks to the relentless use of synthetic chemicals by commercial product manufacturers.
This stuff gets absorbed into the food at the grocery store! |
| Walgreens pulls its air freshener products
According to the NRDC, the air freshener products with the highest levels of detectable phthalates were Walgreens Air Freshener, Walgreens Scented Bouquet, and Ozium Glycolized Air Sanitizer. Walgreens has since pulled its air freshener products from its shelves, apparently out of this newly revealed health concern.
Four consumer advocacy groups (and environmental groups) are now filing a petition with the EPA and Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), calling for the agency to start testing air freshener products for this toxic chemical. |
Stacy Malkan
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| Most of the focus group participants had not heard of phthalates.
Every other video was from the cosmetics industry's point of view. The cosmetics industry tested out different spokespeople and messages, including some over-the-top descriptions of environmental groups that didn't play too well with the focus groups. "Chemical terrorist groups are trying to frighten you" by claiming that cosmetics are not safe, said one unidentified person in a video clip. "Extremist groups are cherry picking chemicals to make it seem like there's a problem," said another. |
| Tim Long explained the company's position that phthalates are safe. He told Bryony at one point that American women aren't as concerned about cosmetics safety as the Europeans.4
Janet Nudelman was getting ready to convince the companies otherwise — this time with a letter signed by 60 women's and environmental groups under the letterhead of the Breast Cancer Fund. The letter explained the European Union's new Cosmetics Directive and asked the companies to sign a Compact for Safe Cosmetics, a pledge to replace hazardous chemicals with safer alternatives within three years. |
| Hundreds of animal studies show that phthalates like dibutyl phthalate (DBP) can block male hormones called androgens, which are responsible for making a male into a male. The result of this anti-andro-gen effect is what scientists call "de-masculinization" of male offspring: low sperm counts, testicular atrophy, undescended testicles and birth defects of the penis such as hypospadias, where the opening of the urethra occurs on the underside of the penis instead of the tip. |
Mark Schapiro
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| Some EU member countries, like Austria and Germany, imposed even tighter restrictions on phthalates, limiting their use in the plastic wrapping that comes in contact with food. An EU risk assessment classifies DEHP as a danger to adults as well as children, concluding that the substance "should be regarded as if [it] impair[s] fertility in humans" and "should be regarded as if [it] causes developmental toxicity to humans. |
David Steinman
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 Since the post-World War II petrochemical explosion, these have almost always been made with petrochemicals, including polyvinyl chloride, styrene, polyethylene, acrylics, elastomers such as butadiene, and phthalates.9 These toxic molecules often end up in the tissues of workers, consumers, and in the local environment in our lakes, streams, and underground aquifers, as well as the air and aquatic life.
It doesn't take a brain surgeon or even environmental extremist to make the connection and see that these same toxic chemicals are part and parcel of global warming processes as well. |
Donna Jackson Nakazawa
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| Like dioxin, bisphenol A, PBDEs, and pesticides, phthalates have been found in every American tested.
Becky Sandler might be especially disturbed to learn of data linking hair dye to a woman's likelihood of developing lupus, given that she has her roots dyed auburn to cover her premature gray every six weeks. Several studies have shown that women who use hair dye have three times the risk of developing lupus—that is, if they also carry specific genes that make them susceptible to autoimmune disease in the first place. This might not, however, reassure Becky all that much. |
David Steinman
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| In fact, from experimental studies, we know that DEHP produces testicular toxicity at lower doses in juvenile rodents than in adults and that reproductive system development has been shown to be sensitive to breakdown products of the phthalates in rodents. This could be due to the fact that the reproductive system in juvenile rodents is still developing, he adds. |
| Unfortunately for non-EU consumers, phthalates are usually ingredients in proprietary formulas and are not listed on cosmetic labels. To test for them costs about $175. Thus, testing each product, for most pregnant women, is out of the question.
Some experts, and governmental agencies such as the Consumer Product Safety Commission, say that the concern over these chemicals is overblown and that we should be confident that they are safe. |
| The twins loved their milk and gulped from baby bottles made with polycarbonate petrochemical-based soft and hard plastics, including the presence of various estrogenic synthetic petrochemicals called phthalates and the contaminant bisphenol-A that have potentially leached into their milk. It bothered me. |
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