Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Imagining a Phthalates-free World


Mainstream media is at last focusing more attention on the toxic chemicals in our lives. Last week Time ran an article entitled Cancer, Cancer Everywhere with a list of suggestions gleaned from the President's Cancer Panel report. One of the families of toxic chemicals mentioned was phthalates. Perhaps you saw the phthalates segment on 60 Minutes Sunday night? If not, do watch it here. Phthalates are impossible to spell and even more difficult to pronounce. They also are impossible to avoid.

What exactly are phthalates? Synthetic chemicals which keep substances, like that smelly vinyl shower curtain, soft and rubbery. Another type of phthalate is used in personal-care products. It allows lotions to penetrate the skin. And, of course, phthalates can be found added to the plastic in children's toys.

This morning I was sitting at the breakfast table with our Green Room guests chatting about this and that. Somehow the conversation turned to hazards in the environment – we were no doubt discussing the environmental mess in the Gulf – and I brought up phthalates. Sue is a nurse and teaches nursing. She explained how phthalates are ubiquitous in hospitals. Her team had been trying hard to reuse plastic. Now they must rethink their policies. I feel for the nurses of the world, because phthalates can be absorbed from the air we breathe and the medical industry is not about to change all its convenient disposable blood bags, etc, any time soon.

I am reading Slow Death by Rubber Duck about body burden, a fascinating book and a real eye-opener. I’m on the second chapter, actually, the one about phthalates. The good news is that “phthalates break down quickly in the human body and in the environment. If we stopped making them tomorrow, the global contamination would disappear from most places relatively quickly – with the exception of isolated environments like deep sediments in lakes and oceans.”

The bad news? Well, you know it. Phthalates are in us already.

I was struck by the statement made by the chemical industry spokesperson, interviewed by Leslie Stahl on 60 Minutes. He made it clear chemical company executives do not believe phthalates are dangerous and intend to continue producing them. (Honestly, how do these people sleep at night?)

One easy way to avoid phthalates in cosmetics is to consult the EWG’s Skin Deep database to check that specific products are safe.

While we're imagining a phthalates-free world, take a few minutes to watch this disturbing video from Beth Terry's blog Fake Plastic Fish and get outraged. Only a major outcry from citizens will force legislators to get serious about cleaning up our environment.

What have you done to eliminate phthalates from your life?

Comments (9)

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This is probably not a good day for me to be commenting, I'm just so disheartened by the Gulf oil spill and other terrible things I've read about in the news today. I have little faith that our government will do anything to start cleaning up dangers we cannot see when they can't even get together to clean up millions of gallons spewing into the Gulf and ruining hundreds of miles of coastlands and wetlands. :( Thanks for the link to Skin Deep.
it's as if god designed the human body for exactly this time in human history, with a liver to filter. it's amazing we're living as long as we are in this contaminated world. the quote by the chemical industry spokesman shows how 'it's just a job' can corrupt a soul, and the fact that contamination is widespread and legal shows how our system is designed to make money who cares about anyone's soul or health. thank god for the divine design of our bodies, and the unstoppable (seemingly) power of positive thought.
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I've said this before and I'll say it again - you do such a terrific job of keeping these very important issues and how they relate to real people in the forefront.
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This is the second time I've seen this book mentioned- I will have to get ahold of it.
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Jennifer Margulis's avatar

Jennifer Margulis · 769 weeks ago

I'm reading this late at night and if I watch these videos I'll just get too mad to sleep. How do these corporate monsters sleep at night? I wonder about this all the time, especially about the plastic throw-away diaper industry clogging our landfills and polluting our environment.

We are working to rid ourselves of plastic and phthalates as much as we can. Here are some concrete things we've done (a couple of these I've mentioned before but we are doing them even moreso);

1) We make our own laundry detergent now, which means no plastic bags full of phthalates...

2) We ALMOST NEVER use plastic bags at the grocery store for produce--we buy everything and keep it loose in the cart. This is something EVERYONE CAN DO STARTING NOW (except for bulk leafy greens)!

3) We are only buying bread wrapped in paper or from the bakery without a bag, asking the baker to hand it over the counter to us

4) We have ordered a plastic-free dishwasher, thanks to Mr MasterCard. Our dishwasher has been broken for months now.

5) We NEVER wash plastic of any kind in the dishwasher.

6) We store all food in glass Pyrex containers. They are awesome by the way.

7) A friend gave us her wool diaper covers. They are so fantastic. I think we will get rid of all the vinyl-y ones, though I am sentimentally attached to them. I wish I had known with my other children about how they are toxic. I also wish I could afford some more wool covers or make them myself. My daughters are trying to teach me how to knit...

8) After reading this blog, we are going to round up all the faux-fleece in the house and bring it to Goodwill. The kids are very resistant though. But I don't want them wearing toxic clothing anymore.

This is only a start but it's something. It's so hard since the plastic and the phthalates are ubiquitous. I'm trying really hard, though, to change our habits and pay attention to the pollutants. Thank you, Sandy, for helping us do this.
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I have serious phthalate fear! They're something I've become super aware of in my environment, and try to steer clear of. Alas, my plastic shower curtain and other things around the house are sorely in need of phthalate-free alternatives. :/
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I'm sickened by how much trash we (my family) generate, and this is after conscious recycling and reusing and on consuming less in general. The packaging that comes on stuff that just doesn't need it--like my new phone--is insane. This video was so sad. Especially the trash river. Oh and the gull who ate that bag! Anyway, what I've tried so far to reduce:

* I don't use lotion. I use natural oils on my skin (coconut, olive, almond, whatever I have in the house that doesn't make me smell too odd)

* Canvas bags at the grocery store and I reuse all plastic bags whenever possible (ex: the plastic that comes on my newspaper doubles as a pooper scooper)

* Buy fresh foods and try not to put them in a baggie if possible

* Avoid foods that come with packaging on them (boxes, shrink wrap etc)

* Buy less stuff in general. It's consumption that = trash. This technique saves money and makes most people happier, too.

I also try to use less of everything. Tiny bits of toothpaste. Tiny bits of shampoo. Make everything go farther--like people did naturally during the great depression.

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I saw the documentary "America the Beautiful" about the beauty industry and they went to Target and picked up 12 random beauty products (make up, lotion, etc) and sent them to a lab. ALL 12 contained phthalates, some low levels, some higher. Many of these products claim to be safe for use.

This is a huge contrast to Europe. They have stricter rules and care more about consumer safety than helping big corporations cash in like the FDA does.
Thanks for hammering away on this one, it's such an important subject and I'm sometimes guilty of wanting to hide in a (brown paper, not plastic) bag on this subject -- it can feel overwhelming...where to start???

I got lots of good ideas, though, from your post and from the comments left by others.
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