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January 30, 2008
A top contender in the Error Derby
In a competition for number of errors crammed into one sentence, the following, from the Albany Times-Union, would surely be a top contender:
Phthalates (Di-exyl-hexyl phthalate), a carcinogen, has been linked to birth defects in the male reproductive system. It can be found in nail polish, deodorant, fragrance, hairspray and lotions.
About the only thing right in this sentence is the spelling of the phthalate, known familiarly as DEHP. Otherwise:
- DEHP is not, according to the Personal Care Products Council, used as an ingredient in personal care products. Not even the leading anti-cosmetics pressure group claims otherwise. In product tests recently conducted by this pressure group to look for the presence of DEHP, it found traces of DEHP in only three products. The highest concentration it found was 25 parts per million (10,000 parts per million would be one percent). These concentrations are so low that it seems pretty apparent it’s a trace amount, possibly picked up from the packaging.
- DEHP is not a carcinogen in the eyes of most regulatory authorities and the World Health Organization. Scientists have concluded that the cancer effects seen in rats given large doses of DEHP result from a process that scientists say is irrelevant to human biology.
- Large doses of DEHP are linked to reproductive and developmental effects in male rats. While some scientists have assumed that extremely high doses of DEHP might result in similar effects in humans, these doses are far higher than that to which people are exposed, according to exposure data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control. Further, no human study has presented such a connection in humans, and there is even some evidence to suggest that primates may be far more resistant and perhaps even immune to the sorts of effects seen from high dosing of rats with DEHP.
Posted by Marian at January 30, 2008 12:36 PM