Protect your health against dangerous phthalates
PROTECT YOUR HEALTH AGAINST DANGEROUS PHTHALATES
Every expectant mother fears phthalates. Actually, those substances should be of interest to everybody who does not want to risk potential health problems related to excessive synthetic materials. We are referring particularly to men, as phthalates are linked to impaired testosterone production.
Phthalates are most frequently used as PVC softeners, as the material gets more flexible, and thus better utilizable. Unfortunately, we can find them also in cosmetic products where they serve primarily to fix synthetic perfuming. Therefore, if you come across a conventional cosmetic product - be it a shampoo, hairspray, perfume, or massage oil - attracting / discouraging you by its artificial odour, sit up.
We have news - good and bad. Let's start with the good news: there are more than 10 kinds of phthalates. The good news is that the two most harmful of them, i.e. DEHP and DBP, were forbidden by the European Union long ago. Therefore, if we don't bring cosmetic products from other continents or non-EU countries, we can feel relieved. However, there is a problem with the phthalates - they are difficult to prove to the manufacturers, and it often applies that phthalates are a part of the synthetic odour. But such information is usually not stated on the package.

Why are phthalates forbidden?
As we have mentioned already, DEHP (2-diethyl hexyl phthalate) and DBP dibutyl phthalate cannot be found in conventional cosmetic products any more. As Stacy Malkan states in her book Not Just a Pretty Face books are italicized, phthalates were classified as 2nd class toxins causing reproduction disorders, in spite of protests of big cosmetic companies.
DBP allegedly blocks male sexual hormones responsible for correct sexual development. But it should be avoided also by women, particularly by pregnant women who, according to researchers, risk congenital defects of reproduction organs in their offspring.
But unfortunately, these two forbidden phthalates are not all there is to the issue. There are also phthalates that don't provoke so much, controversy but the team researching chemical substances in cosmetic products fear that the phthalates accumulate, Not only with each other, but also with other chemical substances contained in the product. It is, therefore, really infuriating that a shampoo may become the elixir of toxicity, and nobody really knows where the "safe level" of use is. However, the phthalates are present not only in cosmetic products, even if many of the products have been forbidden already in the EU. Plastic toys for children are not as phthalate-rich as in the past; PVC and vinyl boards and bathroom curtains are not in fashion any more. But if we don't use only natural cosmetic products, we should be on alert.

How can phthalates be reduced?
Minimize everything that can be minimized. You cannot permanently check whether you touch a PVC full of phthalates or whether it is harmless PET in everyday life. But there are things that can be prevented.
As Stacy Malkan states in her book, dangerous phthalates were contained in all perfumes subject to tests on the USA. Nevertheless, their list of ingredients did not mention phthalates. So we see that we should beware of artificial, synthetically created odours, starting Starting with perfumes. But this problem can be solved very simply : colon instead of dash by natural perfumes in which mixtures of harmless pure etheral oils are used. Nature creates a lot of odours, but some plants simply don't release their etheral oils. Therefore, the original and unspecified odours of conventional perfumes are replaced by much simpler combination of essential oils.

Tip→ If you still long for original odours, try the products from Les Fleurs de Bach. Their toilet waters are completely natural, yet interesting. The Présences and Vivacités perfumes contain water from laboratories, but the rest has purely natural origin, including Bach essences that work miracles to the psyche.
But synthetic odours should be watched even in common conventional ( cosmetic products - shampoos, body lotions, deodorants, hairsprays or nail varnishes. Choose preferentially cosmetic products without odours, if possible. In case of certified cosmetic products, we don't have to fear artificial perfuming.
Can phthalates be released from plastic packages? That applies to the PVC material, but PVC is not used in natural cosmetics, particularly due to the fact that it could get soft and react with the etheral oils, contained in great amounts in the natural cosmetic products. So most products are packed in glass or PET containers that don't release any phthalates.