Should We Worry about Phthalates in Our Plastic Wraps and Plastic Food Containers?

Phthalates are a group of chemicals used to make plastics more flexible and harder to break. They are often called plasticizers. Some phthalates are used as solvents (dissolving agents) for other materials, according to the Center for Disease Control (CDC).

Hundreds of products are made with phthalates.

 

These types of products include plastic packaging film and sheets, garden hoses, inflatable toys, blood-storage containers, medical tubing, some children's toys, vinyl flooring, adhesives, detergents, lubricating oils, automotive plastics, plastic clothes (raincoats) and personal-care products, such as soaps, shampoos, hair sprays, vinyl shower curtains, cable wire and nail polishes.

A point that the American Plastics Council in Arlington, Virginia emphasizes is that phthalates are not used in plastic beverage bottles, nor are they used in plastic food wrap, food containers, or any other type of plastic food packaging sold in the United States.  Food cans and plastic food containers made in Mexico are a different story.  According to the Universidad Autónoma de San Luis Potosí in Mexico, Bisphenol A, phthalic-acid, bisphenol-A-dimethacrylate, bisphenol-A-diglycidyl-ether, dioctyl-phtalate and dibutyl-phthalate were found in baby bottles and microwaveable containers.

Even though some studies have indicated that phthalates might contribute to obesity, there are other factors that need to be considered before this is confirmed. 

 

 The Division of Toxicology and Human Health Sciences, Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry in Atlanta found age and sex differences in the association between urinary phthalate metabolite concentrations and body weight outcomes. Reverse causation cannot be excluded since overweight and obese people will have more fat mass, they may store more phthalates, thus leading to higher excretion concentrations.

There are seven phthalates.

The seven phthalates include, di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP), dibutyl phthalate (DBP), butyl benzyl phthalate (BBP), di-isononyl phthalate (DINP), di-isodecyl phthalate (DIDP), di-n-heptyl phthalate (DnHP), and mono-2-ethyhexyl phthalate (MEHP).

The Department of Toxicological Research at the National Institute of Toxicological Research in Korea has ranked phthalates from strongest to weakest adverse effects for sperm motility.  The Korean government has now made this department one of the departments under the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety of Korea.  The ranking follows: DEHP; DBP; DnOP; DUP; DIDP; BBP among diesters and MBuP; MEP; MEHP among monoesters, respectively. These results suggest that the adverse effects of phthalate esters (PEs) on sperm parameters in male rats are greater with phthalate diesters than monoesters, which may be useful for the risk assessment of phthalates.

Scientific evidence strongly suggests that phthalate risks to humans are low.

 

Analysis of all of the available data leads to the conclusion that the risks are low, even lower than originally thought, and that there is no convincing evidence of adverse effects on humans, according to the Center for Integrative Toxicology at Michigan State University.  Since evidence shows the risk of phthalates are low, regulations that have been enacted are unlikely to lead to any marked improvement in public health.

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