How to Buy Phthalate-Free Products

Series Summary

With global obesity figures skyrocketing, people are taking a closer look at the factors that are affecting their weight, and people are asking the question, “Why are we getting so fat?” While some people would say that it is, in large part, due to genetic predisposition, others are convinced that most of the answers are found in the foods that we choose to eat every day. And increasingly, we seem to be choosing foods high in fat and sodium content, processed and refined, but devoid of any real nutrition. In this free video series, get some general nutritional information. For instance, find out about hormone shots for weight loss. Also, learn about the potential dangers of phthalate, a chemical that is found in most plastics. Curious about the negative and positive effects of chlorine? Find out why chlorine is both good and bad for human bodies. In addition, find out about the home remedy called gripe water. So, take a moment, and improve nutrition today!

Video Transcript

"My name is Christine Marquette and I'm a registered dietitian with the Austin Regional Clinic and I'm going to talk to you about how to buy Phthalate-free products. Phthalates are a chemical that are typically found in plastics they can be used to increase their flexibility. But they're also found in a variety of other products. Personal care items for example, they can found in nail polish, deodorant, hair spray, perfumes, various types of paints. They're also found in pesticides and in plastics, things like PVC pipes, PVC that's also used in flooring and those types of things. The reason why there's been an increased interest in finding products that don't have Phthalates is because there has been some research showing that there is an increased risk of birth defects, liver cancer, kidney problems and other hormonal imbalances in laboratory animals. So for this reason a lot of people are concerned with their exposure to Phthalates. Another cause of concern is that the CDC did a random sample of adult women of child bearing age and found that a lot of them had, I think it was over 70 percent, had more than the recommended level of Phthalates circulating in their bloodstream. Because this particular chemical is quite ubiquitous, its found everywhere. So one of the ways that you can go about making sure that your products are Phthalate-free is specifically look at the ingredients for that particular word. There's a lot of different Esters, it may be a multi-syllable word, but always look for Phthalate as the ending. There may also be some that are just using straight abbreviations. The abbreviations to look for would be DEHP. That stands for Di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate. Another abbreviation is DIDP. That stands for Di-isodecyl phthalate. And then DINP. That stands for di-isononyl phthalate. So if you see any of those abbreviations, you know that that particular product still has Phthalates in it. Many manufacturers who make nail polish and hair spray and those kind of personal care products are very happy to advertise that they have products that are."