What are phthalates and how do they affect you?

What Are Phthalates?

Phthalates are a group of chemicals used as plasticizers. Plasticizers make plastic more flexible or moldable. Phthalates can also be used to dissolve other chemicals and chemical compounds. Phthalates are found in many common household items and personal care products. There are phthalates in everything from toys, to packaging, to skincare products. Despite the pervasiveness of phthalates in everyday products, there is ongoing research into the safety of phthalates. 

Certain phthalates like DBP, BBP and DEHP have already been banned from children’s toys, and research on other chemicals in the phthalates group is ongoing. We will give you more information on phthalates and help you understand why at Dilute, we don’t include any phthalates in our products.

Are Phthalates Bad For Me?

We do not know everything about all types of phthalates. They are a group of chemicals, and there is still research into different types of phthalates. What we do know is that some phthalates have been linked to health concerns. Some phthalates act as endocrine disruptors. That means, that phthalates can have an impact on the part of your body that produces hormones. These hormone disruptions can cause issues in male and female reproductive systems and can also have some negative effects on the digestive system.

Research is ongoing, and the effects from low-level exposure to phthalates remain inconclusive. That being said, there are phthalates like DBP, BBP, and DEHP that have been banned from children’s toys with fears that children would put these toys in their mouths and be exposed to these chemicals. Young children, children going through puberty and adult women are most at risk for negative health effects from phthalate exposure.

How Can I Avoid The Risk From Pthalates?

We find phthalates in a lot of our everyday products. Our advice to reduce your risk of phthalate exposure is to read the labels and be selective about products your purchase. Phthalates can be passed through food and water, so when you buy plastic products, make sure they are not made with phthalates or other harmful chemicals.

Phthalates can also hide in products under the “fragrance” label. In the U.S., as long as products are labeled with the word “fragrance” the ingredients of that fragrance don’t have to be disclosed. If you are purchasing a product that contains fragrance, try to find phthalate-free products that are labeled as such. Phthalates are common ingredients in fragrance, so pay extra attention to fragrant products.

There is still a lot to learn about phthalates, but the documented risks can cause serious impacts on our health. At Dilute®, we did not want to take the risk and all of our products, including those containing fragrance, are free from phthalates.

Does Dilute® Use Phthalates?

Dilute® products do not contain any phthalates. At Dilute the safety of our products is one of our top concerns. For that reason, we chose to develop products that are phthalate-free, VOC-free and paraben-free. Our products don’t contain any chemicals from the Prop 65 banned chemical list and we only used ingredients from the EPA Safer Chemical Ingredients List.