Mommy Goes Green

Phthalates continues to be in the news this time in a new reportwhere researchers found that newborn girls whose mothers have high levels of phthalates contained in plastics show markedly lower levels of attention and alertness than newborn boys of similar mothers. 

Remember, phthalates are a group of industrial chemicals used to make plastics like polyvinyl chloride (PVC) more flexible or resilient.  Phthalates have been found to disrupt the endocrine system and are in all different products like toys, raincoats, shower curtains, vinyl flooring, nail polish, hair spray, adhesives and shampoo.  (The phthalates associated with neurological effects in the study often appear in medical tubing, food containers, wall coverings and flooring.)   In July 2008, Congress passed legislation banning 6 phthalates from children’s toys and cosmetics and several major retailers say they will phase out phthalate-laden toys.  All toys containing the banned phthalates were to to be removed from shelves by February 10, 2009. 

Back to the new study….. Shortly after birth, neurological tests were performed on 311 infants, whose scores were correlated with phthalate measurements in urine from 295 mothers, most of whom were black or Latina and under 25 years old, according to the study, in-press in NeuroToxicology and available online. Far from abnormally high, the mother’s phthalate levels were within the range reported for the U.S. population and, in fact, over 75 percent of Americans have residues of at least 5 phthalates in their bodies. As the researchers noted, the tests attempted to measure attention to visual and auditory stimuli, motor performance and overall alertness among other behavioral assessments.   

How to Keep Yourself and Your Family Safe from Simple Steps

• Avoid buying plastics that may be treated with phthalates, including vinyl toys, shower curtains, gloves or other products. Look for “PVC”, “V” or the”3″ recycling code on the object or its packaging.
• If you have vinyl tiling in your home, damp mop regularly since phthalates bind to dust on the floor. Direct sunlight on vinyl tiles causes it to release phthalates more quickly so put lower blinds on windows that shine directly on flooring. Finally, if you’re already considering replacing the flooring, choose non-vinyl options such as cork, linoleum, wood or stone.
• Toys with the worst phthalates should already be off the shelves, but check to see if toys you already own have them.
• Look for products that don’t include fragrance in their ingredients.
• When buying cosmetics, purchase from companies that have pledged not use phthalates.

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