![]() |
||||||||
![]() ![]() ![]() |
||||||||
What did they not find? The monoesters of two phthalates of current interest, di-(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP) and di-isononyl phthalate (DINP), did not appear in high concentrations. (But see a recent study of Puerto Rican girls). These two compounds, especially, have been the focal point of some controversy because they are found in medical equipment and flexible plastic toys. One industry response to the Blount et al. study has been to highlight the fact that neither DEHP nor DINP were at high levels. They argue that the health concerns raised about medical equipment and plastic toys were therefore invalid. Industry's logic is flawed. The sample of people studied by Blount et al. included no children and is unlikely to have included recent users of IV tubes or other medical equipment with phthalate contamination. These results therefore say nothing about those controversies. There are also technical reasons, discussed in Blount et al., as to why the their measurements may give a low-ball estimate of exposure to DINP. Moreover, the concurrent publication of a study documenting 7x greater concentrations of DEHP in Puerto Rican girls suffering from premature thelarche demonstrates that the DEHP controversy is far from resolved by the results of the current research. What does this study mean? American exposure to phthalates is significant. Animal studies demonstrate reproductive toxicity at levels to which some people are clearly exposed. Phthalates are used widely in many unregulated products that fall through the regulatory cracks. These failures in regulation have created many untoward exposures whose health consequences we do not understand but could be quite important. The exposure of women of child-bearing age is especially troubling, as these compounds are particularly known for their ability to interfere with fetal development, especially in males. There may be a tragic irony in the fact that one of the pathways of exposure, cosmetics, is targeted especially toward women of reproductive age. By using phthalate-containing compounds in the battle of the sexes, they could be undermining the future sexuality of their male offspring. High level review of how the regulatory system allowed these exposures to be built into so many products is clearly warranted.
|
||||||||
|
||||||||