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    Controversial Phthalate Plasticizer Found Safe For Children’s Toys, Confounding Activists
    By Jon Entine | October 9th 2012 01:00 PM | 16 comments | Print | E-mail | Track Comments


    Last year, campaigning journalist Susan Freinkel noted that she wrote her anti-chemical book, Plastics: A Toxic Love Story, because she was shocked about how much modern society relied on plastics. In her mind, “synthetic materials” equated with poor health, pollution and western gluttony. 














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    There are links on this same page to two Science2.0 articles on studies that did find risks from phthalates:


    So, glad that's been straightened out!

    I haven't exactly followed the science, but I'm sure I've seen other studies, since at least 2006, that showed phthalates were risky - endocrine analogues, I believe was the issue. I say this because the article above makes it seem like the 'anti-phthalate frenzy' is just a bunch of Playboy Bunnies with homespun, new-age theories.

    (I remember the year because a certain acquaintance of mine objected to a certain longish, rubbery object, which was made with phthalates, and it made me curious enough, the next day, to look it up.)

    (For the record, I'm not claiming they're harmful or otherwise. How would I know?)

    Actually, I said clearly that there are studies that can be used to reaffirm whatever bias you start with.

    As for the two studies that you cited, it looks like you didn't read them (as they are two dated, marginal studies that do little to challenge the conclusions based on a review of hundreds of studies in the latest Australian determination, or recent reviews of the research literature done by the EU and the Danish EPA.

    As for the two you cited:

    (1) both evaluated low phthalates, which I made a point of saying are more controversial than high ones.
    (2) the first study is an association study evaluating low phthalates--of very little use to scientists. More stringent studies have not shown anything more than a loose association at best
    (3) the second study was on rodents. Researchers have consistently found that the impact on rodents does not translate to humans because of the unique way phthalates are metabolized in humans.

    Again, it's key that scientists stick to the data. And reporters--or random readers--should be cautious about cherry picking individual studies to conform to a predetermined prejudice.
    I freely confess I didn't read the two studies - I only skimmed them enough (10 seconds each) to see whether they suggested risks.

    I am indeed a random reader. But I didn't cherry pick anything - I cited every article I knew of that mentioned phthalates! I gave you the whole cherry tree! I just thought it was amusing to find them on the same page as your article.

    I positively claim I know nothing whatsoever about phthalates, except what some girl told me, which I weight accordingly, and what I've forgotten from something I read (on wikipedia probably) 6 years ago!

    As for prejudices, I admit to being prejudiced against "chemicals," in that all it takes is a bit of a rumor about one to make me doubt it's safe. I think if you have to have a simple instinctive response, that's more adaptive than its opposite. But I'm not so prejudiced that I can't be soothed by a little evidence.

    Gerhard Adam
    True enough, but the same report also says [in the next paragraph]

    I don't know whether phthalates are problematic or not, but according to this report, neither does anyone else with absolute certainty.
    Mundus vult decipi

    I totally agree with you, in principle. No one should give phthalates a pass as an appropriate subject for continued research. My point is the opposite--let's not demonize chemicals based on incomplete research, especially when the research on humans (as the studies I linked in my report and dozens more reviewed by the Australian government) seem to suggest that the key issues found in rodent studies have not been confirmed in human studies. BTW, the quote you use saying "not all phthalates and metabolites have been tested" is based on older summaries of phthalates. All the 9 major phthalates have since been tested, and the concerns are just not there for the high pthalates--which is one of my key points. Different types of phthalates have different effects. While scientists and regulators recognize this and are incorporating it into their regulatory schemes, journalists just don't make those distinctions. They seem to want to pre-decide whether they are pro or anti, which is stupid. Let the evidence drive their analyses, not their biases.
    Gerhard Adam
    Fair enough. 
    Mundus vult decipi
    Why would it be wrong to demonize (or, be wary of) all (especially novel, organic) chemicals until they've been scientifically un-demonized?

    A bit argumentative are you? Why would anyone want to demonize anything that's been in common use for decades with no persuasive evidence that it creates any problems. You can't ever "prove" something is not harmful. Heck, people die from allergic reactions to common foods all the time. Should we demonize them? What kind of world would live in if we chose to demonize--again your over-heated word--any and everything. Vaccines? Let's ban them because they haven't been scientifically "un-demonized" by some elements of the science community (are you listening Dr. Oz?

    You miss the entire point of the story. We need journalists to approach science issues, like chemical toxicity, with a degree of sophistication--or we will have precautionary freaks trying to demonize their pet peeves--which is what happens when it comes to things like chemicals, shale gas, GM foods, etc. That said, we should always keep an open mind when it comes to any controversial product or substance. Wariness though? I think that's way too paranoid unless there is persuasive scientific evidence to back it up.
    Not argumentative - I meant it as a serious question.

    I didn't specifically mean demonize phthalates. I meant what I said: novel, organic chemicals. All I meant was, why shouldn't we we should err on the side of caution, and not take risks until we know what the risks are? (Thus I'm glad someone's doing these studies. Although, they tend to come a bit after the fact, especially in the realm of chemistry.)


    I would reverse that. We should be wary until there's scientific evidence that it's "safe." (Safe enough, whatever that means in context.) I think wariness is a perfectly legitimate response to the unknown, even if it isn't the only legitimate response. Society and its institutions need to be wary. (Employing scientists to test stuff is one mechanism for society being wary.) Not shun the new, but look before we leap.


    Demonize was your word!

    I didn't actually miss the point of your story. Maybe this would be a good spot to say I agree with your thesis? Yes, so-called science journalists should have a better grip on science generally, and mob rule shouldn't decide what gets shelved or implemented (gawd forbid). But my (mostly snarky) comment didn't address any of that. Really I just thought it was an amusing irony to find those two links on the same page. (Blame the webmaster!) I'm sure I wouldn't have commented at all otherwise.

    This is a well-written piece, Jon, and you make an important point. The "anti-" brigade rarely care about the facts/science, preferring to rely on emotive rhetoric ('Frankenfoods', to point out another important case). When this bleeds over into what masquerades as serious 'science' journalism, we start to have a real problem.

    I work in the plasticizerindustry and I am used to the fight of NGO's against our products. Some not so scientific facts often are ignored:
    * Phthalates are used for more than 50 years now, not 1 incident was reported where a human being was harmed by a phthalate.
    * Even at those humans getting administered the highest dosesof phthalates (blood receivers) no adverse effect have been reported ever.
    Usually my arguments are criticized for being inhumane (for considering humans a kind of guinee pig), but they are true.
    My question to anybody attacking the Phthalates would be: Show me 1 incident where a human being was harmed by the Phthalate. (and please do not argue with the weight increase, usually with kids coming out of a fast food restaurant with a Hamburgerin each hand)

    The effects from endocrine disruptors are most pronounced during critical periods of early development.  In that light, it's interesting that the Australian report notes lower (rat) birth weight due to prenatal DINP exposure.  Combine that with the observational study mentioned above that low birth weight was correlated with higher pthalate levels in humans too, and perhaps there is still some cause for concern, if not demonization.
    Consider the wording of the Australian conclusion: "Current risk estimates do not indicate a health concern from exposure of children to DINP in toys and child-care articles".  That means they don't see cause for concern once children are born, but that does not say anything about the effects on a developing fetus in utero.  It is somewhat strange that prenatal exposure was not addressed in the conclusions, given that they do reference those studies in the body of the report.

    Let's remember both sides can fall into the activism trap.  Just as reports of toxicity can be over-sensationalized, reports of no adverse effects can be over-interpreted as well.

    ...except there are no studies that suggest that "endocrine disruption" occurs in the development stage. An endocrine EFFECT does not mean that normal functions are disturbed in a way that retards development. That theory has been around for two decades and it just hasn't proved out in studies, except when chemicals are fed to rodents in ways that bypass the liver, which renders DINP (and I would even bet more controversial phthalates) harmless. So...we have evidence of incredibly minor effects but as yet no evidence of adverse effects. There have literally been hundreds of tests in this area. There is no new science here. You can try to twist the Australian review to mean something that it doesn't, but it's clear that this review (and similar reviews in the EU) do not suggest adverse effects from DINP. To suggest anything different is irresponsibly playing the "precautionary" card outside of what the evidence suggests.
    I would call reduced birth weight an adverse effect.  You're absolutely correct that the review does not suggest toxicity.  But nor does it confirm the complete absence of adverse effects, particularly for fetal exposure.  Toxicology studies look for obvious physical abnormalities or sickness, but there can be more subtle effects that would not show up in the studies.  For example, obesogenicity might not be detected until later, and subtle cognitive effects might not be evident in lab animals.
    If your argument is that there is not enough evidence to ban DINP, I think I would agree with you.  What I'm suggesting is that there isn't yet enough evidence to say it's completely harmless, either.