Phthalates

Sources and Uses: Phthalates are industrial chemicals added to many consumer products, including vinyl flooring adhesives; detergents; lubricating oils; solvents; food packaging; automotive plastics; plastic clothing, such as raincoats; and personal-care products, such as soap, shampoo, hair spray, and nail polish. Phthalates are widely used in flexible polyvinyl chloride plastics, such as plastic bags, food packaging, garden hoses, inflatable recreational toys, blood-storage containers, intravenous tubing, children?s toys, and some pharmaceutical and pesticide formulations.

Health Effects: People are exposed through direct contact with products that use phthalates or through food in contact with packaging that contains phthalates. The different phthalates vary in their ability to produce the following effects in animal studies: testicular injury, liver injury, liver cancer, anti-androgenic activity, teratogenicity, and peroxisomal proliferation. For example, di-2-ethylhexyl phthalate (DEHP), benzylbutyl phthalate, dibutyl phthalates, and di-isononyl phthalate have reproductive effects in animal studies. Greater susceptibility to reproductive toxicity at lower doses occurs for in utero exposures or in younger animals.

Effects of phthalates in people have not been well studied and most phthalates have not been completely classified with respect to their carcinogenicity. The Center for the Evaluation of Risks to Human Reproduction of the NTP [exit DNR] has recently reviewed the reproductive effects for many of the phthalates. Information about external exposure (environmental levels) and health effects is also available for some of the phthalates from information on EPA IRIS [exit DNR] and from the Agency for Toxic Substances & Disease Registry (ATSDR) [exit DNR].

Ecological Effects: Soil and water contamination are greatest in areas of industrial use and waste disposal.