If you think it’s hard to spell phthalates, try finding a cleaning product, cosmetic, or electronics product that doesn’t contain them. The chemicals, esters of phthalic acid, are used, among many other reasons, to make plastic more flexible and durable. What they do to people appears to be very different. According to research conducted at Boston’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital, there is a clear association between increased concentrations of phthalates in the body and an increased risk of diabetes in women. A Brigham and Women’s news release reports that when researchers analyzed urinary concentrations of phthalates in 2,350 women who participated in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, they found:
- Women who had the highest levels of the chemicals mono-benzyl phthalate and mono-isobutyl phthalate had almost twice the risk of diabetes compared to women with the lowest levels of those chemicals.
- Women with higher than median levels of the chemical mono-(3-carboxypropyl) phthalate had approximately a 60 percent increased risk of diabetes.
- Women with moderately high levels of the chemicals mono-n-butyl phthalate and di-2-ethylhexyl phthalate had approximately a 70 percent increased risk of diabetes.
This is what happens when you allow a industry (cosmetic, home products etc) to self regulate. Hundreds if not thousands of chemicals that they use are not even tested by “any” gov. agency’s for safety or long term effects . It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to realize that if you allow a corporation to make and sell something as cheap as they what because thats what their all about, greed and the consumer/people will pay the price!