Chemicals|Phthalates are often used in cosmetics. They disrupt hormone function.
The summary is made by artificial intelligence and checked by a human.
A US study links skin care products to phthalate concentrations in children’s urine.
630 children, aged 4–8 years, from ten localities participated in the study.
Phthalates can cause problems with fertility, neurological development and metabolism.
Professor Jorma Toppari advises to avoid children’s daily use of skin care products.
Rich the use of skin care products is connected to a higher-than-usual concentration of hormone-disrupting phthalates in children’s urine, says a recent American research.
Researchers say the result is the first of its kind.
Phthalates are used in many cosmetic and hygiene products. Thanks to them, the substance spreads pleasantly on the skin.
Previous studies have found that exposure to phthalates and substitutes early in development is linked to problems with fertility, neurological development and metabolism.
for research 630 children between the ages of 4 and 8 from ten locations across the United States participated.
An exact list of all skin care and cleaning products that had been used on the child’s body during the day before sampling was collected from the children’s parents. Moisturizers, sunscreens, shampoos and soaps were also included in the list.
The use of several products predicted a higher concentration of phthalates in the child’s urine.
“Finding is not surprising at all”, says the professor of physiology at the University of Turku Jorma Toppari.
According to Toppar, Danish studies have also found that phthalates applied to the skin are absorbed into the body.
They disappear quickly, but problems can follow if the products are used daily and the exposure is continuous.
Toppari has himself studied the effect of so-called hormonal disturbances on men’s sperm production.
Phthalates damage the function of the testicles. In addition, they cause obesity by increasing the formation of white fat cells. Both effects are produced through hormonal activity.
A top is also a pediatric endocrinology specialist. He advises to refrain from daily slathering children and young adults with skin care and hygiene products.
It is not necessary to wash the body with soap or anoint it with creams without a special reason. Shampoo is not needed before puberty, because children’s hair does not get greasy yet.
Atopic, dry skin needs a moisturizer. That’s when the pharmacy’s basic creams, which do not use phthalates, help.
In early childhood Excessive use of skin care products has become viral on Tiktok fashion phenomenon. According to Toppar, it would be wise for them to follow the precautionary principle as well.
“Early adolescence is one of the most sensitive times when you can cause harm in the development of the genitals.”
During puberty, boys undergo rapid changes in their testicles. In girls, the ovaries start to work in a new way.
In principle the safety of cosmetic products is monitored, but according to Toppar, only a small part of hormonally harmful substances has been studied. More of them are coming to the market all the time.
Furthermore, cosmetics may not be tested on experimental animals, but only on artificial skin and cell cultures. With them, the hormonal effects do not survive.
“The users act as laboratory animals themselves,” says Toppari.
Health and the phthalate concentrations found in Finnish children between the ages of 10 and 13 in a recent study by the Finnish Institute of Health and Welfare (THL) are lower than in a study conducted in the United States, says a specialist researcher at THL Jani Koponen.
It is impossible to completely avoid getting phthalates in the body. They even come from food. In Finland, according to THL, it is the most important way of exposure.
The main purpose of the substances is to soften plastics. They are used a lot in plastic food packaging.
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