Phthalates

INVISIBLE OVERLOAD > PHTHALATES

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Phthalates (pronounced THAL-ates) are a group of man-made chemical plasticizers used to make plastics more flexible and harder to break. They’re also used as solvents (carriers for fragrance and other substances) in hundreds of consumer products.

Phthalates are classified as endocrine disruptors, meaning they can interfere with your body’s hormones. They’ve been linked to:

Hormonal disruption: lower testosterone, fertility issues in men and women
Developmental problems: especially concerning during pregnancy and early childhood
Metabolic effects: linked to obesity and insulin resistance
Respiratory problems: linked to asthma and allergies
Increased risk of chronic disease: potential contributors to breast cancer, thyroid dysfunction, and more

Fresh Scented Laundry

Is there a downside?

It turns out there is. Phthalates are used in fragrances to help scents last longer and adhere to the skin, hair, and clothes. They help dissolve and stabilize other ingredients in fragrances. Phthalates can be inhaled through vapors and once inhaled, these chemicals can enter the bloodstream through the lungs, bypassing the digestive system’s detoxification process.

Can Moisturizers Make You Look Older?

It turns out they can. Phthalates can disrupt the skin barrier and potentially make it more permeable to other harmful chemicals. As endocrine disruptors, they may contribute to inflammation and oxidative stress, which can accelerate skin aging.

Phthalates are a common ingredient in many daily beauty products.

Fragrance" is a cover word for hormone-disrupting phthalates.

SOURCES

Phthalates: Hormone Disruption, Fragrance Exposure, Metabolic Effects, and Skin Barrier Disruption Environmental Working Group (EWG) – What are phthalates? https://www.ewg.org/news-insights/news/2024/09/what-are-phthalates Cleveland Clinic – Are Phthalates Safe? https://health.clevelandclinic.org/what-are-phthalates PubMed – Phthalate exposure and metabolic effects: a systematic review of the human epidemiological evidence https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31196577/ PubMed – Urine phthalate levels were associated with skin barrier dysfunction in children https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37070889/ ScienceDirect – Phthalates and their effects on human health: Focus on erythrocytes https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S153204562300100X The Guardian – New research finds alarming levels of toxic chemicals in children's mattresses https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/apr/21/children-mattresses-toxic-chemicals-research PUBMED / Phthalates and Their Impacts on Human Health NIH / Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals’ Effects in Children: What We Know and What We Need to Learn? ELSEVIER / Urinary excretion of phthalates and the substitutes DINCH and DEHTP in Danish young men and German young adults between 2000 and 2017 – A time trend analysis Zero Breast Cancer / Phthalates: The Everywhere Chemical ATSDR / ToxFAQs™ for Antimony Environmental Health Perspectives / Polyethylene Terephthalate May Yield Endocrine Disruptors