Phthalates: Are They Safe?

(CBS)  More than ever, people are worried about how all the chemicals we're exposed to are affecting our health: among them a family of chemicals known as phthalates, which are used in everyday plastics.

Not plastic bottles of water or soda, but soft and flexible things like shower curtains. They're also in shampoos and carpeting.

Phthalates are so ubiquitous, we all have traces in our bodies.

Recently the Environmental Protection Agency, EPA, put phthalates on a list of chemicals that "may present a risk" to the environment or human health. That's because they disrupt hormone activity and some preliminary studies show that they may be causing a slow and steady demasculinizing of men.

But if phthalates were on trial, a jury might find the evidence against them conflicting and inconclusive. And yet last year Congress took action, doing what Europe had already done: it banned certain phthalates in children's toys.

Full Segment: Phthalates - Are They Safe?
Web Extra: Benefits of Phthalates
Web Extra: How Much is Too Much?
Web Extra: Other Phthalates
Web Extra: Danger Ahead?

Congress came under pressure to act because of a study by Dr. Shanna Swan, an epidemiologist at the University of Rochester Medical School. Dr. Swan compared the levels of phthalates in a group of pregnant women with the health of the baby boys they gave birth to.

Swan told "60 Minutes" correspondent Lesley Stahl she found that the higher the level of phthalates in the mother's urine during pregnancy, the greater the problems occurred in young boys.

Asked what she found in babies, Swan said, "We found that the baby boys were in several subtle ways less completely masculine."

Dr. Howard Snyder, a pediatric urologist at Children's Hospital in Philadelphia, says Swan's findings line up with what he's seeing in newborn baby boys: an alarming increase in deformed sex organs.

Dr. Snyder operated on one-year-old Griffin to correct something called "hypospadias," a birth defect that causes problems in urination.

"He's a healthy little guy who's, I think, going to get through the rest of life aiming without any difficulty at all," Snyder told Stahl.

"We hear that there are more and more and more cases of hypospadias. Are you seeing a lot?" Stahl asked.

"Thirty, 40 years ago, the best data we had then was that hypospadias occurred in about one in every 300 live male births. It's up to now about one in 100. So there's been a threefold increase," Snyder explained.

There's also been a two-fold increase in another abnormality: un-descended testicles. Snyder says something seems to be interfering in the womb with the production of testosterone, causing the male organs to form improperly. And he suspects it may be phthalates.

"You're moving in on these chemicals," Stahl remarked. "You don't think whatever we're seeing is smoking or diet or something else?"

"I think it's the chemical exposure that are most telling," Snyder replied.

He points to studies beyond Shanna Swan's that seem to link phthalates to low sperm counts and low testosterone levels in adult males.

"There's just too much incremental data that has built up to be ignored. I think it's a real phenomenon. I really, honestly do," Snyder said.

Look around Dr. Snyder's hospital and you see how phthalates can make their way into our bodies. They're in the IV bags and the tubing for instance. When premature babies - hooked up like this - were studied, researchers found that their phthalate levels soared.

Who would've thought chemicals embedded in plastic leach out. Well they do, in small amounts. But studies are beginning to suggest that even small amounts can have an effect. If it is shown definitively that phthalates are dangerous, it won't be easy to get rid of them.

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[mva22]

I was appalled to find phthalates in almost all children's products like shampoos, lotions, diaper creams, etc. Make SURE the stuff you use on your infants and children are phthalate free since they are so sensitive when young! I get my shampoos and diaper creams from www.greenhealthybaby.com

[Tennisgolfbike]

At what cost?

I operate a small toy company and we fully support the intent ( if not the execution) of the new toy laws; no company wants to put children at risk but most people don?t realize the huge financial and environmental costs that these new laws have had.

For example, we were very proud that our leading product was not only made in the USA but we could use up to 50% recycled PVC to make it.

New law goes into to effect:

- This causes us to operate at a loss so we released 4 American workers.
- We destroy and Landfill thousands of pounds of toys because it is illegal to recycle a toy.
- Most of the recycle PVC material we would had been used is now going to a landfill because we are forced to use 100% virgin PVC to comply with the new laws. Using virgin PVC drives up our material costs to the point where we can no longer afford to make this product in the USA so more American loses jobs?.

[essco-safetycheck]

Good story, but just the tip of the iceberg. I own an environmental testing and software company (Essco Safety Check) and we have been assisting people and businesses with knowledge of their environment and thus have become experts in regulations. Today I posted a blog ?Do you know what a consumer product is?? Phthalates are just part of the regulations, or lack thereof. Did you know that a toothbrush is not regulated for lead, like a children?s product? You can read my blog at www.blog.essco-safetycheck.com or visit our website at www.essco-safetycheck.com ?know what is in your environment? and mitigate harm.

[puristics]

Great article. I'm glad the conflicting evidence was brought forward on both sides. Endocrine disruption, hormone disruption and birth defects are complicated and with multivariate causes. There's no simple answer; there never is. Still, each of us should do what we can to be more aware of the potential dangers of pthalates and to take reasonable steps to avoid them in our daily lives. Eliminating exposure will be impossible but reducing exposure, particularly for the most vulnerable, is possible.

[extremophil]

Can't comment.....Phthalates on my keyboard...might kill me...

[rf35]

No, they'll just turn you into a eunuch.

[theblamee]

Good reporting on a tough, tough subject.

Sure would be nice to know about some of these things, once and for all . . . like whether bacon either was (or was not) good for you. Maybe some day. Until then . . . there's nothing like relishing the "occasional" BLT.

Thank you for the informative piece.

[bbbaney]

Agreed. Good that you showed multiple 'sides' of the story. If there isn't conclusive evidence of harm as shown by the rats versus monkeys; then it is irresponsible to start legislating the use of alternatives, by banning phthlates. These alternatives are not drop in replacements across the board, and have not had risk assessments completed. Reactionary laws, such as the ones on toys, do have economic ramifications, and assuming business has unlimited resources to do full material testing of complex products is naive. A balance of EPA studies on targeted chemicals with industry cooperation, identification of viable alternatives also with apples to apples test data seems the best course. Just takes time.

[carlida]

Rearchers like Dr. Swan, who rely on government grants from the EPA, are another reason why we have become a nation of fearful, fatalistic, groupthinking victims as Michael Crichton wrote about in "State of
Fear". To maintain its budget and staffing the EPA relies on "intitiatives" to sustain itself. Many of its
consultants once worked for the EPA. It has also become a gold mine for class action attorneys.

[brianbwb2011]

Right, so auto fumes are not harmful, there is no global warming, and mercury in the food chain is not harmful, neither is lead in contact surfaces, and thalidomide doesn't cause arm and leg deformities, right?

Or maybe you suggest that we should accept and ignore such hazards in the name of corporate profits. How about a little arsenic in your seafood, courtesy of BP, no problem, so long as they can make profit, right?

Hello, it is not about fear, it is about eliminating as many man-made dangers to ourselves as is possible.

To do that, it is first necessary to know what they are.

[curse914]

Crichton was also exploiting that atmosphere of fear; or am I mistaken and he was giving his book away for free?