April 17, 2009br /br /Results from a long-term health study on girls who live in East Harlem, NY, and surrounding communities provide some of the first evidence linking human obesity and endocrine disruptors in plastic.br /br /Phthalates, found in personal care products and pliable plastics, affect the endocrine system – glands and hormones that regulate many bodily functions. Phthalates have raised concerns as possible carcinogens for more than a decade.br /br /Researchers measured exposure to phthalates by testing children’s urine. “The heaviest girls have the highest levels of phthalates metabolites in their urine,” said Dr. Philip J. Landrigan, a professor of pediatrics at Mount Sinai, one of the lead researchers on the study. “It goes up as the children get heavier, but it’s most evident in the heaviest kids.”br /br /The phthalate study follows a group of about 400 girls who range in age from 9 to 11. Researchers found that the levels of phthalates measured in children are significantly higher than the average levels that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have measured in children.br /br /The findings may trigger a new approach to thinking about obesity, drawing environmental factors into a central part of the equation. “Most people think childhood obesity is an imbalance between how much they eat and how much they play,” Dr. Landrigan said. But he thinks the impact of endocrine disruptors on obesity could be more significant than many people believe. “The $64,000 question is: what is causal pathway? Does it go through the thyroid gland? Does it change fat metabolism?”br /br /Meanwhile, Dr. Landrigan advised people to reduce their exposure to phthalates as a precautionary measure. “You can’t avoid them completely, but you can certainly reduce their exposure,” he said.br /br /strongDr. Grout’s Comment:/strongbr /br /Here are several ways to identify products that have, or are likely to have, phthalates or another compound that has raised similar concerns and is found in similar products, Bisphenol A (a href=”http://www.arizonaadvancedmedicine.com/articles/BPAToxicity.pdf”BPA/a):br /br /1. Read labels. According to the organization a href=”http://www.pollutioninpeople.org/toxics/labels”Pollution in People/a, you can identify phthalates in some products by their chemical names, or abbreviations:br / br /bull; strongDBP/strong (di-n-butyl phthalate) and DEP (diethyl phthalate) are often found in personal care products, including nail polishes, deodorants, perfumes and cologne, aftershave lotions, shampoos, hair gels and hand lotions. br /bull; strongDEHP/strong (di-(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate or Bis (2-ethylhexyl) phthalate) is used in PVC plastics, including some medical devices. br /bull; strongBzBP/strong (benzylbutyl phthalate) is used in some flooring, car products and personal care products. br /bull; strongDMP/strong (dimethyl phthalate) is used in insect repellent and some plastics (as well as rocket propellant). br /br /2. Avoid products with the term “fragrance;” most fragrances are chemical compounds which often include phthatates. br /br /3. Choose plastics with the recycling code 1, 2 or 5. Recycling codes 3 and 7 are more likely to contain BPA or phthalates.br / br /4. Avoid vinyl shower curtains. Choose cotton shower curtains with polyester or nylon liners.br /br /5. Avoid PVC toys. Toymakers that have pledged to stop using PVC include: Early Start, Little Tikes, Lego, Prime Time Playthings, Sassy, and Tiny Love.br / br /6. Vinyl plastic wrap and other food storage. Choose plastic wrap made from polyethylene. For food storage, use glass containers or plastic containers marked with recycling symbols other than 3. br /br /Repeated exposure to some plastics has been found to raise insulin levels and thus contribute to a href=”http://www.arizonaadvancedmedicine.com/articles/diabetes.html”diabetes/a.div class=”blogger-post-footer”img width=’1′ height=’1′ src=’https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/4769404502414351890-2695549243051126706?l=arizonaadvancedmedicine.blogspot.com’ alt=” //div