Despite all efforts, plastic is still an important part of everyday life. They contain our cleaning products, our food, and our skin care products; They impregnate our floors, shoes and clothes.
Many of us are already actively reducing our plastic consumption for environmental reasons. But a growing body of research into ingredients commonly found in plastics is raising concerns about these problematic materials.
Experts recently warned of a potential health risk for a group of chemicals called phthalates (pronounced “P-thalates”), which are commonly used in plastic bottles and other household items to make them more flexible and durable.
This month’s flurry of news has no doubt fueled public fear over the use of phthalates as “hormone-distorting” and “silent killers” to be avoided whenever possible. This follows the publication of a new study by scientists at the University of Michigan in the US that claims that phthalates are linked to the development of type 2 diabetes in middle-aged women.
Other studies have shown that exposure to phthalates can increase the risk of allergies in children, which is a concern for parents given the proliferation of plastic lunch boxes and young children’s tendency to explore the world and their plastic toys with their mouths.
As with many health stories, it can be hard to know what to believe. Are these headlines just scary? Or is there some truth in these statements? And if so, what can we do to reduce our risk of exposure to these harmful chemicals?
Phthalates are synthetic chemicals developed during the plastics boom of the 1920s as a solution to problems associated with the production of old materials. They quickly became popular and were used in everything from food packaging and cosmetics to cleaning products and children’s toys.
In the past few decades alone, researchers have found a number of associated health risks, including evidence of links between phthalate use and asthma, breast cancer, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and allergies.
According to Richard Sharpe, Emeritus Professor at the MRC Reproductive Health Center at the University of Edinburgh, “Phthalates are the most commonly used industrial chemicals and as a result we are all exposed to a variety of phthalates on a daily basis.”
But before readers panic, he says I that this may not be the crisis we think. For example, Sharpe says that “they are highly unlikely to be a direct cause of diseases such as type 2 diabetes.” As for “hormonal distortion… these stories are sensational to say the least.”
After more than 20 years of studying the potential health effects of phthalates, Sharpe says, “Personally, I’m not sure they’re really bad for us.”
As the old saying goes, anyone who confuses correlation and causality is killed. While it’s true that people who develop type 2 diabetes may have been exposed to more toxic chemicals, Sharpe explains that it’s not the chemicals themselves that necessarily cause disease: Research shows that phthalates are much more common in processed foods. and high-fat foods, which we should avoid if we want to fight diabetes and other obesity-related diseases at all.
As for what we should be doing to avoid health risks, no matter how obscure or minor, Sharpe recommends the same advice we all know: “And processed foods are a double win,” he says. “You reduce your risk of obesity while reducing your exposure to the most common phthalates.”
He and others are concerned about the proliferation of these “plasticizers” in food for the simple reason that they are “contaminants that do not improve the quality of food.” The way phthalates actually get into food is remarkable enough – largely uncharted territory, no doubt,” he adds.
It is important to note that while there is ample evidence that plasticizers do not pose a direct health hazard, many of these chemicals are not yet fully understood and many argue that phthalates should be avoided entirely for these reasons.
In 2003, a US Centers for Disease Control study documenting widespread public exposure to certain phthalates recommended further study of the chemicals and their effects on human health. prohibit the use of certain phthalates in children’s toys and other products.
In addition, Sharpe’s own research showed that high exposure to phthalates can cause reproductive problems in pregnant lab rats. As a result of this study, some phthalates are now classified as toxic to the reproductive system and banned from use in manufacturing. Sharpe explains that even if they were still in use, most people’s exposure would be far below the levels considered dangerous.
“To have adverse health effects, someone would have to be exposed to phthalates about 50,000 times more than you or I would ever be exposed in real life,” he says.
To understand the conflicting reports about phthalates in the current news, it also helps to understand the flawed nature of scientific research, especially when it comes to human health.
Take, for example, a University of Michigan study: researchers followed 1,300 middle-aged women for six years and concluded that those exposed to high doses of phthalates were 63% more likely to develop type 2 diabetes than those who did not. who didn’t.
The authors of the publication concluded from their study that “some phthalate metabolites were associated with a higher incidence of diabetes … but the associations were not consistent across racial/ethnic groups. Whether phthalates cause diabetes requires further study.”
Six years isn’t too short for a health study like this, but it’s short compared to the average human lifespan. “We know that obesity and related diseases such as type 2 diabetes do not develop overnight, but over decades,” Sharpe explains. Thus, to get a true picture, experts need to know how a person has been exposed to phthalates throughout their lifetime, which is very difficult and expensive to study.
opposing Isays lead author of the study in Michigan, Dr. Mia Peng, “we should be concerned about phthalates because we are exposed to them on a daily basis without fully understanding their potential impact on human health.”
At the same time, she is candid about gaps in the scope of the study: “There is so much we don’t know about the interaction between phthalates and other social determinants of health. To better understand these interactions and the health risks of phthalates in general, we need to conduct research in different populations from an early age,” she concludes.
Source: I News
I’m Raymond Molina, a professional writer and journalist with over 5 years of experience in the media industry. I currently work for 24 News Reporters, where I write for the health section of their news website. In my role, I am responsible for researching and writing stories on current health trends and issues. My articles are often seen as thought-provoking pieces that provide valuable insight into the state of society’s wellbeing.