Meet The Villains: Thoughtless Phthalates

Although she’s often disguised as fun, Thoughtless Phthalates is one chemical group who is a total downer. This troublemaker gets into everything from vinyl (PVC) plastic toys to vinyl shower curtains and flooring to medical IV bags to lovely smelling shampoo and cosmetics. 

Don’t let her fragrant aura trick you!  She’s a stinky rat associated with reproductive abnormalities and asthma. She’s used as a plasticizer to make plastic soft and pliable, but she doesn’t stay put. She easily escapes from consumer products to stealthily lurk in house dust, our bodies, and the environment.

Lucky for us, Thoughtless Phthalates has begun to get the attention of companies and policy makers. In 2008, Washington state and the U.S. Congress took action restricting the use of phthalates in toys and other children’s products.  Microsoft has now completely ended the use of PVC in its packaging material and Kaiser Permanente has pledged to reduce PVC wherever possible in new construction. Evergreen Hospital in Kirkland, WA has eliminated most PVC products from its neonatal intensive care unit, as has the Special Care Nursery at Group Health Cooperative in Seattle.

But these actions are just tiny blips in the otherwise huge universe of products that Thoughtless Phthalates hangs out in. Companies and policy makers need to get wise to Thoughtless’ harmful ways by phasing out phthalates in consume products and we need the power of the League of Everyday Superheroes to help! 

Sign our League of Everyday Superheroes pledge and help us drive Thoughtless Phthalates out of our lives for good! Until then, you can protect yourself and your family by avoiding PVC and purchasing products from companies that have eliminated phthalates. A partial list is available here on our website.