New Study Puts Phthalates Back Under Spotlight.

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New Study Puts Phthalates Back Under Spotlight.

 

By Simon Pitman

 

28/11/2005 - The findings bring fresh evidence against the chemical family,

which is commonly found in both plastics packaging and a number of personal care

products.

 

New research carried out by Danish medical experts again points to potential

problems for newborn babies whose mothers have been exposed to high levels of

phthalates during and after the pregnancy.

Professor Niels Skakkebæk and a team of pediatric endocrinologist at the

Rigshospitalet in Copenhagen conducted the study on newborn baby boys, which has

subsequently been reported in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives.

According to the team, phthalate chemicals found in a variety of commonly-used

household products, including plastics packaging and cosmetics, can subtly

reduce testosterone production in newborn boys.

Skakkebæk told ABC Science Online that the teams findings, ”Gives a small piece

of information that the newborn testis may be fragile to such toxins. Whether

the effects will persist we can't tell but we were quite surprised at all to

find such an association.”

According to the team, exposure to phthalates caused baby boys to show slight

signs of demasculisation, which falls in line with several scientifically-backed

theories that phthalates can cause disruption to the endocrine, eventually

disrupting the natural formation of reproduction organs.

The research centred on babies of three months old, a key period in the

development of the reproductive systems. The study found that there was a direct

correlation between the baby boys' testosterone levels compared to the levels of

six different types of phthalates contained in the mothers' breast milk.

The team said that the higher levels of phthalates in the breast milk did lead

to a small but discernable reduction in testosterone levels, in turn affecting

the development of the reproductive systems.

However, Skakkebæk and his team have also stressed that nursing mothers should

not stop breast feeding as a result of the findings. It was also emphasised that

the reduction in the babies' testosterone levels could also be attributable to

exposure to phthalates while still in the womb.

Although industry bodies such as the CTFA in the US have gone to great lengths

to stress that no scientific study has categorically proven the correlation

between phthalate exposure and the development of baby boys' reproductive

systems, this report now adds to a catalogue of medical evidence suggesting that

phthalates can be harmful.

Phthalates are industrial chemicals used in various consumer products, including

shampoos, deodorants and hair sprays. In animal tests, some phthalates have

damaged the developing testes of offspring and caused malformation of the penis

and other parts of the reproductive tract.

Several top cosmetics companies, including L'Oréal, Revlon and Unilever, have

said they will voluntarily remove DBP and DEHP from products sold in the United

States, where the use of phthalates has until recently been completely

unregulated.

However, last month a Bill was passed by the California state legislature

banning the use of cosmetics ingredients said to induce harmful effects in

pregnant women or to be carcinogens.

The bill focuses on the use of potentially dangerous phthalates, similarly

stressing that the substances are banned by the European Union for use in

cosmetics formulations.

Reference: http://cosmeticsdesign-europe.com/news/ng.asp?id=64201

 

 

 

Caroline Collard

 

World's first fully certified organic skin, body, oral and health care products

www.happyandhealthy.org.uk

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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