Phthalates, or phthalate esters, are esters of phthalic acid and are mainly used as plasticizers (substances added to plastics to increase their flexibility, transparency, durability, and longevity). They are primarily used to soften polyvinyl chloride. Or in the layman terms, phthalates are also called as “plasticizers,”. They are a group of industrial chemicals used to make plastics like polyvinyl chloride (PVC) become more flexible or resilient and also as solvents.
In the scientific explaination, phthalates are used in a large variety of products, from enteric coatings of pharmaceutical pills and nutritional supplements to viscosity control agents, gelling agents, film formers, stabilizers,dispersants, lubricants, binders, emulsifying agents, and suspending agents. End applications include adhesives and glues, agricultural adjuvants, building materials, personal care products, medical devices, detergents and surfactants, packaging, children's toys, modelling clay, waxes, paints, printing inks and coatings, pharmaceuticals, food products, and textiles.
Phthalates are also frequently used in soft plastic fishing lures, caulk, paint pigments, and sex toys made of so-called "jelly rubber." Phthalates are used in a variety of household applications such as shower curtains, vinyl upholstery, adhesives, floor tiles, food containers and wrappers, and cleaning materials. Personal care items containing phthalates include perfume, eye shadow, moisturizer, nail polish, liquid soap, and hair spray.[1] They are also found in modern electronics and medical applications such as catheters and blood transfusion devices.
That means, phthalates are nearly found everywhere in modern society!!!
But the facts that makes it becomes a hotly discussed topic nowadays is because the ill or bad effects it had caused, especially to the man. Phthalates have been found to interrupt the endocrine system. Several phthalate compounds have been identified to cause less sperm counts, testicular atrophy and structural abnormalities in the reproductive systems of male test animals, and some studies also link phthalates to liver cancer, according to the U.S. Center for Disease Control’s 2005 National Report on Human Exposure to Environmental Chemicals.
That means, a pregnant mother who highly exposed to the phthlates items, are more prone to have a ‘less healthy baby boy’ (comparing only baby boys in their pregnancies). It is based on evidence in the reseacrhes conducted by Dr. Shanna Swan, an epidemiologist at the University of Rochester Medical School. Also, according to other health professionals, they said that the baby boys who had been ‘contaminated’ with the phthlates is more likely becoming less tough, less manly oriented, and increase in deformed sex organs.
Talking about the deformed sex organs, Dr. Snyder operated on one-year-old Griffin to correct something called "hypospadias," a birth defect that causes problems in urination. Hypospadias is a birth defect particularly on males in which the opening of theurethra (or the tube through which urine passes) is not located at the tip of the penis as it should be. Hypospadiasis one of the most common birth defects nowadays. We can hear more and more cases of hypopasdias everyday, and it calls us to react wisely.
According to EWG (Environmental Working Group) website , in July 2008, as a result of pressure from EWG and other health groups, the U.S. Congress passed legislation banning six phthalates from children’s toys and cosmetics. Legislators in Washington, Vermont and California have restricted phthalate use in children’s goods, and several major retailers, including Wal-Mart, Toys-R-Us, Lego, Evenflo and Gerber say they will phase out phthalate-laden toys. Let’s pray for better future for our childs…
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