[Pharmwaste] More concerns about phthalates: Effects may be cumulative

DeBiasi,Deborah dldebiasi at deq.virginia.gov
Tue Jan 6 09:35:31 EST 2009


http://blogs.consumerreports.org/safety/2009/01/more-concerns-a.html

January 05, 2009

More concerns about phthalates: Effects may be cumulative

 A report released recently by a committee of the National Research
Council finds that government risk assessment methods likely
underestimate the effects of phthalates, a group of hormone-mimicking
compounds widely used in consumer products. Responding to a request from
the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the committee examined the
agency's current approach to assessing health risks of this large family
of chemicals. The report concludes that the agency could underestimate
phthalate risk if it doesn't consider the effects of combined exposure
to different compounds, which can cause more serious or different toxic
effects together than they would have caused individually. In other
words, the sum could be worse than its parts. 

Though unrelated, the report comes in the wake of the newly passed
Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act, which bans from certain
children's products three types of phthalates permanently and places a
temporary ban on three others pending the results of a risk assessment
by an expert panel. "Consumers can be exposed to many different
phthalate compounds, so we hope this new panel will follow the report's
recommendations and assess the cumulative effects of these compounds'"
says Carolyn Cairns, Program Leader for Product Safety at Consumer
Reports. 

Because they can upset the delicate balance of hormones, phthalate
exposure during key periods of fetal development has been linked, mostly
in animal studies, to a host of problems in the developing fetus. The
male reproductive system is particularly at risk since phthalates
interfere with androgens-male hormones like testosterone-causing defects
in the position of the urethra (hypospadias is the scientific term),
testicular development and fertility. Some phthalates have also been
linked to liver cancer.

Phthalate compounds with different chemical structures can interfere
with androgen activity in ways that are different, yet lead to the same
health outcome. The report stresses that particularly for
hormone-mediated effects, risk assessments should group chemicals by
common outcome, regardless of the chemical structure or mechanism
involved. That will mean assessing products that may contain multiple
phthalates or multiple products that may be used together or frequently
in ways that could compound an individual's total phthalate intake.
Surprisingly, one such product may be certain types of medications.

Phthalates in medication
Researchers from Harvard, Boston University, and the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention recently published a new study that found high
phthalate metabolites in people taking certain medications. 

The study identified some 47 different drugs that may contain phthalates
used to make coatings for some drugs. The study analyzed urine samples
from a group of nearly 8,000 people, testing for metabolites of several
common phthalates, including dibutyl phthalate, one of several banned in
Europe and in some U.S. products. Metabolite levels were significantly
higher in people who reported taking at least one of four different
phthalate-containing medications: mesalamine (a colitis treatment),
didanosine (for HIV), omeprazole (an ulcer treatment), and theophylline
(for asthma and lung disease).

Based on levels detected in the urine, researchers estimate that
exposures in some people may exceed safety thresholds that the
Environmental Protection Agency established for some phthalate
compounds. The findings raise new concerns about the safety of inactive
ingredients in these and other prescription and over-the-counter
medications, particularly those used by pregnant women and children who
may be particularly vulnerable to reproductive and developmental toxins.



Deborah L. DeBiasi
Email:   dldebiasi at deq.virginia.gov
WEB site address:  www.deq.virginia.gov
Virginia Department of Environmental Quality
Office of Water Permit Programs
Industrial Pretreatment/Toxics Management Program
PPCPs, EDCs, and Microconstituents
Mail:          P.O. Box 1105, Richmond, VA  23218 (NEW!)
Location:  629 E. Main Street, Richmond, VA  23219
PH:         804-698-4028
FAX:      804-698-4032



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