Phthalates and Birth Defects

This is a continuation of the last blog. I've really looked into this subject, read lots of studies, read the industry responses on the Phthalate Industry website and the Cosmetics Industry website. I'm trying to give them the benefit of the doubt.

The phthalate manufacturers and the cosmetic industries are mostly telling us the truth but they are giving us half-truths that hide the overall truth. It's true that plastic exposure is putting very small amounts of chemicals into our bodies--so small that our bodies are able to flush out these toxins. It's true that most people don't get sick.

But it's also true that many people are getting sick. Phthalates are damaging your liver and kidneys as your body struggles to get rid of them. Women are having baby boys with altered genitals so there obviously is DNA damage happening to these baby boys.

Some couples are struggling to get pregnant. How many people do you know of who have been unable to conceive? No one can prove that the infertility of any of those couples is due to plastics exposure. Is it possible to prove?

No one can create a gold-standard, double-blind, placebo-controlled test that proves that phthalates cause these problems. This is what the industry means when they say that there is no proof. While there is no proof of the sort that they are referring to, there is proof--dozens of good studies that suggest that there's a correlation between phthalate exposure and health problems. A correlation doesn't prove cause-and-effect unfortunately.

I'm ranting again. Sorry.

Click on the title of this blog above and read my article in LesTout.com. Click on the links in the article and look at the environmental websites. Here they are some of them again just for good measure.

Campaign for Safe Cosmetics
Government Reports on these Chemicals
SkinDeep Cosmetic Safety Database

Ladies, please take care of yourselves and take care of your children.

I once knew a woman who had known many erect penises in her life (hers is an interesting story!). Anyway, she said that the smallest penis in her experience was the size of her little finger--and she had quite small hands. Such a penis is not likely to give a woman much pleasure. Do you really want to condemn your baby boys to a life with a penis like that?

Take a deep breath,

Dr. Ron

Cancer in Your Cosmetics

That's a catchy title, eh? But it's more than cancer in beauty products sold in the US, Europe and other countries. It turns out there's very little regulation of the cosmetics industry so our friends in the glamor business are putting some nasty toxic chemistry in the stuff you put on your body--and on your children every day.

There are dozens of responsible cosmetic manufacturers who are committed to producing safe cosmetics. They have signed the Compact for Safe Cosmetics. These manufacturers deserve your support.

There are others who haven't signed up to make safe cosmetics. You should know who they are.

See http://www.cosmeticdatabase.com/special/whatnottobuy/





Here's some bad examples:

1. Creams, nail polishes and other products that contain phthalates. These disrupt hormones and cause pregnant women to produce boys (who grow up to be men) whose genitals are slightly feminine, including small penises. So guys if you have a small penis, it might be because of your mother's lotions during pregnancy! Manufacturers don't have to list phthalates; sometimes the chemicals are simply listed as "fragrance."
   
2. Hair straightening products for very curly hair that produce breasts on toddlers due to high hormone levels.
3. Cake makeup that contains mercury, a highly toxic metal that produces birth defects and neurological damage and heart attacks.
4. Hair coloring products that contain lead, another metal that causes neurological damage, mental retardation and insanity.
5. Skin-lightening products that cause ochronosis, a disfiguring skin disease with blue and black lesions.
6. Skin products and lipsticks that contain nanoparticles. These are something new. Scientists don't know what damage they're capable of and neither do the cosmetic companies.
7. Skin creams and soaps with cancer-causing ingredients. A dioxane that the EPA classifies as a "probably human carcinogen" is in 22% of the cosmetics sold in the USA.

Go to the Environmental Working Group's Skin Deep website and type in the brand name of your favorite cosmetics and see what they contain.

Take a deep breath,

Dr. Ron

Gardasil, HPV and cervical cancer

You may have heard of the controversy about Gardasil which is an important tool for controlling the sexually transmitted HPV virus. Lawmakers in several countries are deciding whether to mandate the $300-$500 vaccination for all girls from 9 to 26 years of age.

Read my article in Suite 101 for the details of the health risks, but beyond that--why are they vaccinating girls and not boys? It seems to me that mandating all boys be vaccinated would be just as effective as mandating all girls. Millions of people of both sexes are being infected with the virus each year.

To mandate just girls seems to me to be based on the old "women are the source of evil" garbage. What we need is rational health policy.

Having said all that, I'm not sure I'm in favor of anyone getting this vaccine. I can sympathize with the goal of ridding society of HPV and cervical cancer, but so many girls are having strong reactions to the vaccination. I think sex education would have a better chance of lowering the rates of cervical cancer.

[July 2010: I just read that Gardasil increases the chance of cancer by 44% if the person is already exposed to the HPV. If you must vaccinate your children, then insist that the doctor test for HPV before the vaccination.]

Enough ranting . . .

Take a deep breath,

Dr. Ron