Chemicals in some household plastics linked to child asthma risk

Por: http://www.theguardian.com/

New research from Columbia University finds children exposed to a substance found in common household plastics are 70% more likely to develop asthma. What are companies doing to phase it out?

Phthalates, found in food packaging and other household items, have been linked to an increased risk of asthma in children. Photograph: Mike Abrahams/Alamy

Several years ago, Columbia University researcher Robin Whyatt and her team at the Mailman School of Public Health discovered that inner-city kids in New York have some of the highest asthma rates in the world. Nearly a quarter of New York City kids have asthma. The scientists were determined to pinpoint which environmental factors contributed to those high rates, and began working with a cohort of 300 pregnant women to study their children from the womb into late childhood.

The findings of that research have been published regularly sine then, linking the children’s respiratory and neurological issues to various environmental toxins, including exposure to phthalates – chemical binders commonly found in many household cleaners, personal care products and food packaging – as well as insecticides and pesticide residues.

On Wednesday, Whyatt and company released a study that, for the first time, traces the effects of phthalate exposure on children from fetus to school-age. The results are fairly staggering: children who were exposed to high concentrations of phthalates in the womb were 70% more likely to develop asthma between the ages of five and 12.

In addition to the obvious implications this research has for public health, as studies linking phthalates to health concerns continue to pile up, companies are in danger of being caught off guard by either consumer backlash, new regulations, or both. US regulators have been slow to act on phthalates, but have banned them in many children’s products, while the European Union has banned their use in an array of consumer products.

Companies like Estee Lauder, which have a single supply chain for US and EU operations, began phasing phthalates out when EU bans went into effect several years ago. If and when consumers begin to demand phthalate-free products, however, every consumer product company will need to be ready to meet that demand, and many are already preparing.
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“We go through these cycles in chemistry where we realize one chemical is bad and so we phase it out, and then another one crops up,” says green chemist Bruce Akers, who works with a variety of cosmetics companies. “Ten to 15 years ago it was parabens, and it’s looking like now it’s phthalates.”

The findings of the latest Whyatt study point to commonly used phthalates – butyl benzyl phthalate (BBzP), di-n-butyl phthalate (DnBP), di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP) and diethyl phthalate (DEP) – as causing the risk. Mothers would have come into contact with these phthalates via PVC, food packaging and personal care products, according to Whyatt.

The concentrations of phthalates seen in the study group were similar to those seen in the general population, but Whyatt said phthalate concentrations varied widely in the study group, as they do in the general population, and averaged eight to 13 times higher among the women whose children eventually developed asthma.


Whyatt is quick to point out the limitations of the study: research was focused on a particular cohort, already known for high incidences of asthma; the group also consists solely of African American and Dominican women in the inner city of New York. However, she said her team was surprised at how high the risk factor was for kids exposed to high concentrations of phthalates, and that it’s a number that justifies more research.

Swedish scientist Carl Bornehag has been working with Whyatt’s team over the years, and may be able to replicate the prenatal phthalate-exposure study with his subjects, who represent an entirely different demographic than Whyatt’s. In the meantime, Whyatt is hoping to secure funding to continue studying the children in her group into adolescence.

“Asthma changes in adolescence – it’s more prevalent in boys prior to adolescence and in girls after, so you get some kids that grow out of it, some who begin exhibiting symptoms in adolescence, and some that have persistent asthma through childhood and into adolescence,” Whyat explained.

“Those who have asthma in adolescence are much more likely to have it for life, so for public health concerns it’s important to see if there’s a correlation between phthalate exposure and asthma into adolescence.”
Phthalates: the new parabens?

Whyatt’s latest study is one of dozens that have come out over the past decade indicating a link between phthalate exposure and both respiratory and neurological issues. As more information makes its way to consumers, they are increasingly calling on companies to eliminate the chemicals from their products.

“It’s a known thing in the personal care industry, so you’ve definitely got more fragrance houses supplying phthalate-free options, and more companies looking to produce phthalate-free products,” said Akers, who works with a variety of personal care and home product manufacturers.

Akers envisions phthalates going the way of parabens over the next several years. A commonly used preservative, parabens were linked to a variety of health issues a decade or so ago, prompting a big push to remove them from products and spurring companies to label their products “paraben-free” in an effort to market to health-conscious consumers.

The “phthalate-free” label has yet to rise to such prominence, but it’s slowly making gains. Many companies are not waiting around for phthalates to become a big consumer issue.

Johnson & Johnson, after receiving a mountain of bad press over toxics in its baby shampoo a few years ago, has removed phthalates from all baby products worldwide, and stopped using DEP in new adult products in 2006, with the stated goal of eliminating its use in all adult products by the end of 2015.

“DEP is a low-weight phthalate and is the only phthalate we use in a few of our adult products at tiny levels as a fragrance component,” said Carol Goodrich, a spokesperson for Johnson & Johnson.

The chemicals show up in personal care products mostly in the form of fragrance, according to both Akers and Whyatt. “It’s actually really easy to remove them – they’re only there as binders and extenders, so they make the fragrance last longer. They’re what produce that effect of walking into an elevator 10 minutes after someone has left and still being able to smell their perfume,” Akers explained, adding that phthalates can simply be removed from most products, rather than replaced.

The bigger issue comes into play in the form of plastic packaging, which is ubiquitous in both personal care and food products. “If you want soft, squeezable plastic, you’re using phthalates,” Akers said.

Given that most packaging comes from China and there are virtually no US manufacturers of plastic bottles, tackling the challenge of removing phthalates from packaging is next to impossible, particularly without government regulation requiring such a thing.

“There are very few domestic bottle manufacturers, almost none,” Akers said. “I’ve had a couple of clients say they want to make a 100% made-in-the-US product and the question is always OK, but how are we gonna package it?”
Consumer responsibility

“It’s very difficult to avoid phthalates because they’re often not labeled,” Whyatt said.

They’re also unregulated in adult products, although they are regulated in several children’s products. Until that changes, Whyatt recommends that consumers take the following actions to reduce their phthalate exposure: avoid scented products as much as possible; don’t microwave food in plastic wrapping or plastic containers; don’t store food in plastic containers (even if it was packaged in plastic when you purchased it, you can avoid the continuous leeching of phthalates into food by placing it in a glass container once you get it home); and avoid plastics 3 and 7 as much as possible.

“It’s unfair to put this burden on consumers,” Whyatt said. “This is an issue for regulators. So far, a number of phthalates have been banned from toys intended for young children, but no regulatory actions have been taken to protect the developing child during pregnancy, which is likely the period of greatest susceptibility. Our job as scientists is to do the best research we can so as to assist regulators in their decision making.”

Amy Westervelt is an Oakland, California-based freelance reporter who covers the environment, business and health.

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