The Truth About Phthalates – NOT

by Nick
(Montreal)

From time to time you’ll come across an outrageous defence of phthalates on an otherwise respectable or quality website.

Such is the case with a guest post published at SavvyAuntie.com.

The post is written by Jeff Stier, Associate Director of the American Council on Science and Health (ACSH). He should be ashamed of himself.

Here is an excerpt from that post:

“Phthalates are one of the most extensively studied chemicals and are a perfectly safe and necessary substance with many lifesaving benefits, such as I.V. bags used by hospitals.

Any allegations depicting phthalates as dangerous are irresponsible. Therefore, please don’t worry about any phthalate exposure that your nieces or nephews may have had, and instead, focus on the more important safety issues, such as ensuring they wear bike helmets and use seat belts properly.”

First off, he might want to explain why so many hospitals in North America have been working so hard to replace their I.V. bags with alternatives which don’t contain phthalates.

As for his suggestion that people ignore the problem of toxic chemicals in plastics, and focus on bike helmets and seat belts, that is downright irresponsible.

Does Mr. Stier have kids of his own? If he does, I hope he has the courage to tell the truth in his own home and act accordingly.

As for SavvyAuntie.com and other well-meaning sites, I suggest that they do more research before they invite an advocate for the chemical industry to contribute as a guest author.

I know the site is a good one, and it is a shame to see them serve up such horrible and dangerous advice.

Follow-Up Note: When reading articles or posts which defend chemicals with an almost evangelical vigour, as is the case with Mr. Stier’s piece, it makes sense to ask oneself WHY the writer is taking such a stance.

In the case of Mr. Stier, one has to look no further than the organization he works for, the American Council on Science and Health (ACSH).

ACSH is a not for profit organization funded in large part by some of the biggest corporations on the planet. Their funding, and Mr. Stier’s salary, comes from companies which invest huge amounts of money is defending their products, regardless of whether those products are damaging to human health.

While to its credit ACSH has consistently battled against the tobacco industry, it has just as consistently and vigorously battled in favor or just about every other industry.

So the quick answer as to why Mr. Stier wrote such an absurd piece - flying in the face of hundreds of independent scientific studies on the dangers of phthalates – is not hard to figure out.

He is paid to spin the truth. Or, in this case, trample on it.

More on the ACSH:

Sourcewatch.org

Spinwatch.org

Read the full post here...