Phthalates Banned in Children's Toys,
but Still In Children's Body Care and Cleaning Products
On August 14, 2008, President Bush signed a ban on certain phthalates in toys intended for children under three. This was an incredible first step to reduce a chemical class that has known and proven adverse health effects, such as asthma. However, this class of chemicals is still in baby body care products as well as too many other household products to put in one article. For more information about which household products contain phthalates, please read, “Phthalates and Your Health”. This article includes a list of household products that contain this harmful class of chemicals.
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 Causes of Asthma in Your Home
How many more studies will it take to prove the connection between phthalate exposure from cleaning and body care products as well as soft plastics, flooring and scented candles increase the risk of asthma? How many more sick children?
Author: Emily Patterson
Date Created: April 23, 2009
Are parents unintentionally increasing the risk of asthma for themselves and their children with household cleaning products? Look at all the studies below - there's plenty more where these came from. All of these studies are from reputable sites such as the National Library of Medicine, The American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology, U.S. News and World Reports. Please share and help reduce the suffering. I know first hand all about asthma. My son was diagnosed with it. The fear and suffering from watching my baby unable to breathe caused me to act - do the research and make the lifestyle changes necessary to reduce his suffering, and mine. After removing the chemicals from our home that studies show increase the frequency, duration and severity of asthma symptoms, he was symptom-free and weaned off all medication in 3 months. It's not going to be the same for everyone, but according to my experience, the experiences of people I know who also made the lifestyle changes and the results of all these studies, there's a good chance that by removing the chemicals from your home that are linked to asthma, you will likely notice a huge reduction, or a complete end, of asthma symptoms.
- Every day in America 40,000 people miss school or work, 30,000 people have an asthma attack, 5, 000 people visit the emergency room, 1,000 people are admitted to the hospital and 11 people die due to asthma.
- Asthma accounts for one-quarter of all emergency room visits in the United States each year with 2 million emergency room visits in 2001.
- Asthma rates in children under the age of five have increased more than 160% from 1980-1994 and continue to rise.
Source: American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology
The scientific research from all over the world quoted below shows a very strong connection to chemicals in your body care and cleaning products that contribute to asthma and allergies, as well as a number of other adverse health conditions. The studies just keep piling up - here's 12 different independent studies that demonstrate a connection between phthalate exposure and asthma as well as eczema. When will it end? It can end right now for you and your family. Non-Toxic Cleaning Guide gives you the information you need to get rid of phthalate saturated cleaning products. Non-Toxic Body Care gives you the information you need to remove most body care products. Eliminate soft plastics food storage bags and containers and toys. Switch to a fabric shower curtain, they last a lot longer anyway and are washable. I truthfully love mine.
In addition, you’ll save a ton of money by reducing or eliminating expensive products, medications, trips to the doctor and emergency room. The gas savings alone will amaze you. You’ll have more time to enjoy life, without the fear of your or your child or loved being one of those eleven people who die every day from asthma.
Please share this information with everyone you can so you can help reduce asthma. Thank you.
May 2010: An assessment of the ability of phthalates to influence immune and allergic responses.
Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Manchester, Michael Smith Building, Oxford Road, Manchester, M13 9PT, UK
The epidemiological data provide some evidence that exposure to phthalates may be associated with increased risk of development of allergies and asthma, however, the lack of objective exposure information limits the interpretation.
PMID: 20371260 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
April 2010: Phthalate exposure and asthma in children.
Public Health Sciences, Karlstad University, Karlstad, Sweden
Thus, some of the early key mechanisms in the pathology of allergic asthma could possibly be targeted by phthalate exposure.
PMID: 20059582 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
March 2010: Dibutyl phthalate-induced thymic stromal lymphopoietin is required for Th2 contact hypersensitivity responses.
Department of Immunology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA
These data suggest that skin-derived dendritic cells are direct or indirect targets of TSLP in the development of type 2 immune responses in the skin, where TSLP drives their maturation, accumulation in skin draining lymph nodes, and ability to induce proliferation of naive allergen-specific T cells.
PMID: 20173025 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
February 2010: Mono(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate induces both pro- and anti-inflammatory responses in rat alveolar macrophages through crosstalk between p38, the lipoxygenase pathway and PPARalpha.
Department of Air Pollution and Noise, Division of Environmental Medicine, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo, Norway
Airway inflammation is important in asthma pathogenesis. Recent epidemiological data have indicated an association between asthma symptoms in children and exposure to di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP).
PMID: 19938896 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
January 2010: Allergy-related cytokines (IL-4 and TNF-alpha) are induced by Di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate and attenuated by plant-originated glycoprotein (75 kDa) in HMC-1 cells.
Molecular Biochemistry Laboratory, Biotechnology Research Institute and Center for the Control of Animal Hazards Using Biotechnology (BK21), Chonnam National University, 300 Yongbong-Dong, Gwang-ju 500-757, South Korea
Phthalate esters as plasticizers have been widespread in the environment and may be associated with development of allergic diseases such as asthma and atopic dermatitis(eczema).
PMID: 19938896 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
September 2009: Phthalate ester-induced thymic stromal lymphopoietin mediates allergic dermatitis in mice.
Drug Discovery Research, Kyoto R&D Centre, Maruho Co., Ltd, Chudoji, Kyoto, Japan.
Taken together, DBP-induced TSLP during the sensitization phase plays a role in establishing FITC-induced CHS and may be one of the causes of Th2 commitment in the model, suggesting that certain environmental toxins, such as DBP, may endow pro-allergic and atopic predisposition in humans or animals.
PMID: 19740346 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
July 2008: The role of exposure to phthalates from polyvinyl chloride products in the development of asthma and allergies: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
Institute of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, United Kingdom
Epidemiologic studies show associations between phthalate exposure in the home and asthma and allergies.
PMID: 18629304 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
October, 2007: Home Spray Cleaners Could Raise Asthma Risk: Spritzing just once a week boosted odds by 50%, study found
U.S. National Library of Medicine, 8600 Rockville Pike, Bethesda, MD 20894
National Institutes of Health | Department of Health & Human Services
"Cleaning sprays, especially air fresheners, furniture cleaners and glass cleaners, had a particularly strong effect. The risk of developing asthma increased with the frequency of cleaning and number of different sprays used, but on average was 30 to 50 percent higher in people regularly exposed to cleaning sprays than in others," said the study's lead author, Jan-Paul Zock, a research fellow at the Centre for Research in Environmental Epidemiology at the Municipal Institute of Medical Research in Barcelona, Spain.
"Cleaning compounds are generally just tested to make sure that they don't kill people or cause cancer," noted Dr. David Rosenstreich, director of the division of allergy and immunology in the department of medicine at Montefiore Medical Center and Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York City. "But, these products may not be safe for asthmatics to breathe in. And, if it's not safe for asthmatics, it's probably not safe for anyone else," he said.
US News and World Report
August 2007: Indoor residential chemical emissions as risk factors for respiratory and allergic effects in children: a review.
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Indoor Environment Department, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
A growing body of research has associated household chemical emissions with risk of asthma, allergies, and pulmonary infections. Elevated risks were also reported for renovation and cleaning activities, new furniture, and carpets or textile wallpaper. Composite wood materials that emit formaldehyde, flexible plastics that emit plasticizers, and new paint have all been associated with increased risks of respiratory and allergic health effects in children. Elevated risks were also reported for renovation and cleaning activities, new furniture, and carpets or textile wallpaper.
PMID: 17661923 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
March, 2007: Association between personal exposure to volatile organic compounds and asthma among US adult population.
Division of Health Services Research, Department of Family and Community Medicine, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, 3601 4th St, STOP 8161, Lubbock, TX, 79430, USA
Quote: OBJECTIVES: There is growing concern about adverse respiratory health effects from exposure to indoor air pollution. The purpose of this study was to analyze association between exposure to volatile organic compounds (VOC) and asthma in adults. CONCLUSION: In this cross-sectional study of a representative sample of the US population, environmental exposures to VOCs, especially aromatic compounds, were associated with adverse respiratory effects.
PMID: 15633477 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
June, 2006: Cleaning products and air fresheners: emissions and resulting concentrations of glycol ethers and terpenoids.
Atmospheric Sciences Department, Environmental Energy Technologies Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
Quote: PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS: While effective cleaning can improve the healthfulness of indoor environments, this work shows that use of some consumer cleaning agents can yield high levels of volatile organic compounds, including glycol ethers--which are regulated toxic air contaminants--and terpenes that can react with ozone to form a variety of secondary pollutants including formaldehyde and ultrafine particles. Persons involved in cleaning, especially those who clean occupationally or often, might encounter excessive exposures to these pollutants owing to cleaning product emissions.
PMID: 16583937 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
October 2004: The association between asthma and allergic symptoms in children and phthalates in house dust: a nested case-control study.
Swedish National Testing and Research Institute, Borås, Sweden
Global phthalate ester production has increased from very low levels at the end of World War II to approximately 3.5 million metric tons/year. This study shows that phthalates, within the range of what is normally found in indoor environments, are associated with allergic symptoms in children. Given the phthalate exposures of children worldwide, the results from this study of Swedish children have global implications.
PMID: 15471731 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
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