Phthalates, the better-living-through-chemistry ingredient that makes plastic items soft and squishy, also known as "plasticizers," has finally received some attention by US lawmakers.
It has long been thought that exposure to phthalates (pronounced THAL-ates), may cause permanent damage to a child's reproductive system, hormonal balance, and endocrine system. Enough scientific evidence came to pass, and enough pressure was put on Congress and Senate, that they have started to put in place temporary bans on the stuff, pending more investigation.
California was an early mover in this area, as was Vermont, and it's interesting to see the state actions paving the way for federal mandates. No doubt this will have an enormous impact on China manufacturing for all sorts of products. If further testing shows more evidence of harm due to these chemicals, most likely we'll see this ban extended to cover adult body care products and other plastic items (like water bottles).
Still, the need for plastic to be pliable is going to send chemists back to the drawing board for new items. Since we do not really subscribe to the precautionary principle that dictates that products should first prove they are safe BEFORE they can sell them, instead of our common practice, which is to develop the product with in-house testing (which is sometimes error-prone, biased, or incomplete) and then, when there is a problem, the manufacturer gets sued by an injured party and goes through lengthy (and costly) legal battles forcing the usually under-funded opposition which was hurt due to the product at hand to prove that the product is harmful (backed-up by extensive scientific tests (these should be done BEFORE the products are sold by independent parties at the expense of the manufacturer and made publicly available), it is likely that another chemical will be put in place of the phthalates (which potentially could be even more toxic than the one it was replacting), and we start the cycle all over again.
It's a bit of cat and mouse I think. MBDC is a "green chemistry" group lead by great people that are looking into substitute chemicals that ARE compatible with human life without destroying our natural and biological systems (http://www.mbdc.com/). The day is coming where we will know before products hit the shelves that they do not contain harmful ingredients (they've begun this process in Europe already). It would be great if the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), the main US organizations that is charged with overseeing the safety of consumer products, connected with MBDC and mandated industry to use their list of approved chemicals, rather than have the industry self-regulate, which is the common practice today.
Not to be misunderstood, I am pro-business. I just don't think there is any excuse when a company either turns a blind eye to trial data because it contains "acceptable risk" and goes forward based on quarterly profits. I'd rather see corporations taking the high road, taking care of their customers (which includes considering the health impacts of their products on the population and environment), and building long-lasting relationships that include trust and integrity with their various constituencies. I do not think this is a radical statement, and if you ask the execs inside companies, I think they would of course agree with me. Yet, how does the long list of products that have been out in the past (before being banned) and the long list of products currently on shelves (which will eventually be banned) continue to be a part of our economic system? That's the question that I ask myself all the time.
