I bet that most of you are attracted to a product with a sweet perfume or description that sounds good enough to eat -‘Strawberry Sundae' or ‘Pomegranate Cranberry Crush’ or ‘Whipped Chocolate and Vanilla’. You probably realise that your favourite moisturiser is not made out of strawberry sundaes but have you ever given any thought to what actually goes into your product to create that delightful perfume?
A group of chemicals known as ‘Phthalates’ are commonly added to our cosmetics to help fragrances last longer. Through a loophole in the law cosmetic companies are permitted to hide this chemical in the ingredients by just listing it as ‘fragrance’. So how many of your products contain the word ‘fragrance’ in the ingredients list…if you check your products you will find that fragrance is actually listed on almost all cosmetic products.
Phthalates are also a regular ingredient in nail polishes – luckily for us, the chemical must be present on the ingredients listing for nail polish and cannot be hidden as it is in other products.
It is becoming evident in clinical studies that Phthalates are suspected to cause birth defects – primarily reproductive disorders in males; are listed as a ‘probable carcinogen’ and are highly toxic to children.
It has also been found that young women have the highest levels of phthalates in their systems – up to 20 times more than the average person - probably due to the fact that this age-group are heavy users of cosmetics .
As a side note, phthalates are also commonly used in soft plastics as they provide flexibility to the plastic. This includes products such as vinyl flooring, toys, carpets, food packaging and much more. This means that it is not only our cosmetics that are causing our exposure to this chemical but also many objects in the environment around us. The EU has held a ban on the use of phthalates in the manufacturing of plastic toys since 1999.
Whilst the Australian Government usually lags behind Europe and the US when it comes to studies and bans on chemicals, for once they have taken action (even if it is very slow action). In 2006 it was declared that health risk assessments should be carried out on this group of chemicals. It wasn’t until 2010 that the first draft report of these studies was released and the findings of the report prompted the government to place an interim ban on the use of certain phthalates in plastic toys.
In fact, all of the studies that have been conducted recognise the risks that phthalates pose. What is not taken into account is the amount of phthalates that we are exposed to on a daily basis. So while many agencies can say that phthalates in low doses are ‘safe’ it is not acknowledged that we are coming into contact with this chemical from numerous sources.
I for one used to religiously spray myself with copious amounts of perfume in the morning and use all sorts of delicious smelling but phthalate-laced products.
Not to mention the bottles upon bottles of nail polish that I and probably every other girl owns - all of which contain this chemical.
I will leave you with a simple quote from the study done into the dangers of phthalates by the EWG –
“Chemicals that cause birth defects do not belong in products marketed to women of childbearing age.”
For your information, phthalates can be labeled as the following:
- Fragrance
- DBP (di-n-butyl phthalate) and DEP (diethyl phthalate)
- DEHP (di-(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate
- BzBP (benzylbutyl phthalate)
- DMP (dimethyl phthalate)
xo
Miss Chemical Detective
References and links for further reading:
