Phthalates Found in Baby Products May Be Harmful

According to a new study a chemical called phthalates, found in baby lotion, baby powder and baby shampoo may be harmful to babies.  During an interview with Reuters Health, Dr. Sheela Sathyanarayana was quoted saying “At this time, we do not know what the potential long-term health effects might be, but there is a large body of animal studies to suggest developmental and reproductive toxicity (from phthalates) and a few human studies with changes in health outcomes as well.”

Phthalates are often used to stabilize fragrances and make plastics flexible and can be found in several consumer products, such as toys, personal care products and medical equipment.

Sathyanarayana, of the University of Washington in Seatles, and colleagues studied 163 infants between the ages of 2 to 28 months.  The levels of nine different phthalate breakdown products were measured in the urine from the infants’ diapers.

The doctor reports that 81% of the urine samples had a measurable amount of the chemical present.

“We found that reported use of baby lotion, baby shampoo, and baby powder was associated with increased concentrations of monethyl phthalate (MEP), monomethl phthalate (MMP), and monoisobutyl phthalate (MIBP) in infant urine,” says Sathyanarayana.

Sathyanarayana suggests that parents try to limit the use of lotions, shampoo and baby powder in order to decrease their children’s exposure to the chemical as US manufacturers are currently not required to list the chemical on their product packaging labels.