{"id":3928,"date":"2014-09-22T15:17:21","date_gmt":"2014-09-22T20:17:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/health\/?p=3928"},"modified":"2024-02-12T11:01:37","modified_gmt":"2024-02-12T16:01:37","slug":"missing-the-forest-for-the-trees-are-we-addressing-the-biggest-risks-from-exposure-to-phthalates","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/health\/2014\/09\/22\/missing-the-forest-for-the-trees-are-we-addressing-the-biggest-risks-from-exposure-to-phthalates\/","title":{"rendered":"Missing the forest for the trees? Are we addressing the biggest risks from exposure to phthalates?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Lindsay McCormick <\/em>is a Research Analyst.\u00a0 Richard Denison, Ph.D.<\/em>,<\/em> <\/em>is a Lead Senior Scientist.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

A recent <\/span>study<\/span><\/a> published in Environmental Health Perspectives<\/i> is the first to demonstrate a link between childhood asthma and prenatal exposure to certain phthalates.\u00a0 Phthalates are a group of chemical plasticizers used in hundreds of everyday products, including home construction materials, toys, food packaging, medical devices, and synthetic fragrances found in personal care products, cleaning products, cosmetics, and air fresheners.\u00a0 For the most part, it is impossible for the average consumer to know what products are made with phthalates; however, if you see the word <\/span>\u201cfragrance\u201d<\/span><\/a> listed on your shampoo or sun screen, it may well contain a phthalate. \u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Several studies have suggested that phthalate exposure may have an adverse impact on children\u2019s respiratory health (for example, see <\/span>here<\/span><\/a>, <\/span>here<\/span><\/a>, and <\/span>here<\/span><\/a>).\u00a0 \u00a0However, none of these studies has considered the potential role of prenatal exposure<\/i> \u2013 exposures to the fetus in the womb \u2013 to phthalates. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The prenatal period is a critical developmental window for lung and respiratory health.\u00a0 Thus, researchers at the <\/span>Columbia Center for Children\u2019s Environmental Health (CCCEH)<\/span><\/a> hypothesized that prenatal phthalate exposure would be associated with later development of asthma in childhood.\u00a0 To investigate this hypothesis, the researchers measured phthalate metabolite levels in the urine of 300 women in the 3<\/span>rd<\/span><\/sup> trimester of pregnancy, and then followed the children of these women to assess the extent to which they developed asthma between the ages of 5 and 11.\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The study demonstrated that risk of developing asthma in childhood was more than 70% higher in those children exposed prenatally to high levels of two specific phthalates\u2014butylbenzyl phthalate (BBP) and di-n-butyl phthalate (DBP)\u2014relative to those with low levels of exposure.\u00a0 This study expands on <\/span>earlier research conducted by the same group<\/span><\/a> that found an association between exposure to certain phthalates and a marker of airway inflammation in childhood.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Although the evidence linking prenatal phthalate exposure to asthma is just emerging, an association has long been recognized between prenatal phthalate exposure and toxicity to the male reproductive system.\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/span>A growing body of evidence indicates that prenatal phthalate exposure can cause male infertility<\/span><\/a> by dysregulating androgenic hormones such as testosterone during development of the reproductive tract.\u00a0 This science reinforces the view that fetal development is the period of highest vulnerability to phthalate exposure. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Dearth of regulation<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

Despite mounting evidence linking phthalate exposures to health impacts, regulation of phthalates remains limited.\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Regulatory authority over phthalates is dispersed across a number of federal agencies and further segregated by product type.\u00a0 While many products that contain phthalates, including cosmetics and other personal care products, food packaging, and medical devices, fall under the regulatory authority of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), their use in most of these products <\/span>does not require premarket safety approval by FDA<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0 For example, under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA), FDA can only take action against cosmetics after<\/i> they are on the market and where FDA has obtained \u201cdependable scientific evidence\u201d indicating that the product is unsafe. \u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span>FDA\u2019s current stance<\/span><\/a> is that there is not sufficient scientific evidence to take regulatory action against phthalates in cosmetics.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Other types of consumer products containing phthalates, such as polyvinylchloride (PVC) piping or windows, fall under the Environmental Protection Agency\u2019s (EPA) regulatory authority.\u00a0 Although <\/span>EPA has recognized<\/span><\/a> the potential health risks posed by certain phthalates, it has not successfully implemented regulation to limit consumer exposure.\u00a0 In 2010, EPA <\/span>proposed<\/span><\/a> a rule to add eight phthalates, including BBP and DBP, to its \u201cchemicals of concern\u201d list, but <\/span>retracted<\/span><\/a> the proposed rule in 2013 after it sat awaiting White House approval for three years.\u00a0 \u00a0EPA has, however, enlisted its<\/span> Design for the Environment<\/span><\/a> program to review alternatives to phthalates through a non-regulatory approach.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Ban in children\u2019s products<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

In the face of regulatory inaction by federal agencies, Congress took the first step in 2008.\u00a0 The <\/span>Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA)<\/span><\/a> permanently banned three phthalates (BBP, DBP, and DEHP) and placed an interim ban on three additional phthalates (DINP, DIDP, and DNOP), when present in an amount greater than 0.1% in children\u2019s toys and child care articles.\u00a0 CPSIA also required the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) to convene a Chronic Hazard Advisory Panel (CHAP) to evaluate the potential for children\u2019s health effects from phthalates and their alternatives.\u00a0 In July of this year, the <\/span><\/span><\/span>CHAP on Phthalates and Phthalate Alternatives<\/span><\/a> recommended several additional permanent and interim bans, as well as the lifting of the interim ban on DNOP and DIDP in children\u2019s toys and child care articles. \u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

While this action reflects recognition of the risk that phthalates pose to children, it places the intervention point too late in the process of child development.\u00a0 That\u2019s because the science tells us that the most vulnerable window for phthalate exposure is during early development, in the womb.\u00a0 This means that by the time a child picks up a chew toy while s\/he\u2019s teething, it may already be too late to avoid many of the potential health effects of phthalate exposure.\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Instead, additional focus needs to be on reducing exposures to pregnant women and women of reproductive age.\u00a0 The CHAP report indicates that the major sources of phthalate exposures in this population are diet, pharmaceuticals, personal care products, and contamination in the indoor environment.\u00a0 The largest sources of exposure to the phthalates discussed in the CCCEH study, BBP and DBP, for women are aerosol paints and nail polish, respectively.\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Thus, if we are to prevent prenatal phthalate exposure, an expansion of regulation to a variety of everyday products women use needs to be considered.\u00a0 This does not<\/i> mean that exposures during childhood needn\u2019t also be addressed; childhood continues to be a vulnerable window of development and exposure during this time may very well lead to harmful health effects. \u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Existing bans may not even be sufficient to prevent childhood exposure, however: the CHAP report found that the largest source of phthalate exposure in infants and toddlers is from food and beverages, not from child toys and child care products.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Need for a comprehensive regulatory solution<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

In sum, selectively banning phthalates from children\u2019s toys and child care articles \u2013 the only regulatory action taken so far \u2013 creates a false impression of adequate public health protection.\u00a0 It fails to address the key concern of prenatal exposures and is insufficient to prevent childhood exposure.\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

A more comprehensive regulatory solution is needed that systematically reviews all phthalates \u2013 both individually and in <\/span>combination<\/span><\/a> \u2013 and considers all potential sources of exposure in order to make safety decisions.\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The CHAP recognized the limitation of regulating only children\u2019s products in its report.\u00a0 Along with permanent and interim bans in children\u2019s products, the CHAP recommended that the federal agencies responsible for addressing exposures to these phthalates from other products conduct appropriate risk assessment and risk management strategies.\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Will EPA and FDA step up and respond to the CHAP\u2019s recommendation?<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Lindsay McCormick is a Research Analyst.\u00a0 Richard Denison, Ph.D., is a Lead Senior Scientist.\u00a0 A recent study published in Environmental Health Perspectives is the first to demonstrate a link between childhood asthma and prenatal exposure to certain phthalates.\u00a0 Phthalates are a group of chemical plasticizers used in hundreds of everyday products, including home construction materials, …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":50533,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[56100,44,5009,56096],"tags":[39161,5013,39163],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-3928","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-emerging-science","category-policy","category-health-science","category-omboira","tag-aggregate-exposure","tag-children-safety","tag-phthalates"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3928","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/50533"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3928"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3928\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12715,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3928\/revisions\/12715"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3928"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3928"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3928"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=3928"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}