Phthalates update: What you need to know to protect your health
Taking charge of how the environment affects your health is more necessary now than ever, and more possible. That’s because we are increasingly knowledgeable about the negative effects of chemicals in our air, food and household goods
and products. With that knowledge comes the opportunity for you to control your exposure.
Take phthalates, for example.
You frequently hear about the health hazards of phthalates because these hormone-disrupting chemicals are used to make plastic flexible. They’re also employed as a binding agent in everything from household cleaners to food packaging, cosmetics and personal-care products. They even show up in a common air freshener, although you wouldn’t know it from this leading company’s ads. (One hundred percent essential oils are the safe air-freshening choice.)
You come in contact with phthalates through use of such products at home and through food processing that transfers them into the food you eat, and you are exposed them through medical devices made with parts that contain them. And
then there’s the industrial waste that permeates air, water and soil.