What not to wear. Avoiding harmful Phthalates

Posted by Sinead on

What not to wear. Avoiding harmful Phthalates

We are not the ones to recommend giving up anything in January or as a new years resolution. But there are exceptions to the rule. If there is one thing to give up this January it’s phthalates.

You might be thinking that you don’t use phthalates anyway. In fact, you might never have heard the word at all. But it’s highly likely you use it every day. Or at least in contact with phthalates every single day.

You can find phthalates in many plastic products

And phthalates are harmful.

You find this chemical in nail varnish, shampoos, cleaning products and body lotions. They are even in food packaging and vinyl flooring. They are also in fragrance. Not just the fragrance you spritz on or in your deodorant but the word fragrance that is in most products whether it’s to clean your body or your house. What you apply as makeup and the products you use to remove it. Basically, they are difficult to avoid. But we can make an effort and we do have choices.

Why are phthalates used?

They are used as a preservative and a binding agent. For example, it’s used to make nail polish less brittle. There are different kinds of phthalates these include DINP, DEHP, DBP and BBP which you may see on the ingredient lists of various products.

Phthalates are used to make nail polish less brittle

Phthalates, research and health concerns

Luckily there is now plenty of research on phthalates. Unfortunately, they don’t put this chemical in a good light. Research suggests that phthalates can act as hormonal disruptors and are toxic to reproductive health. This includes potential harm to a baby in the mother’s womb. They are linked to diabetes in women. And both obesity and behavioural problems in children. They might even have carcinogenic (cancer-causing) properties and be linked to asthma.

Get out the magnifying glass

You might find the word phthalates on a product or perhaps DINP, DEHP, DBP or BBP. It’s likely that the first four letters of the word phth are hidden in the middle of a word too. Sadly it can also be part of the term fragrance. Not all fragrance contains phthalates of course. According to legislation yogandha also contain the word fragrance but our fragrance is purely natural - created of essential oils only.

Our advice: be as natural, simple and as close to nature as possible. That’s one good reason why yogandha was created. yogandha oils can be used as a cleanser for face and body. As well as moisturising body and face oils. With no nasties.

Get out your magnifying glass to study the ingredient list on all your products. Look at the small print!

Stay well,

Sinead