Phthalates Risk Is Overstated

* Once again The Times is promulgating junk-science masquerading as public health and safety information (“Toys Cited as Hazards for Children,” Nov. 24).

Certainly, small toys do pose a choking hazard, but the phthalates used as softeners in plastic toys do not pose the severe toxic hazard claimed in the article.

Phthalate esters have been used for decades in polyvinyl chloride plastic products found in domestic, medical, and industrial settings without adverse effects.

Opponents of phthalates state that they are carcinogens and will leach out of plastic toys, thereby poisoning our children. What they fail to recognize is the dose effect.

In extremely high doses, phthalates have indeed caused cancer in rodents (no increased incidence of cancer has ever been shown for humans); but such doses would be the equivalent of a small child consuming one rubber duckie every day of his or her life until approximately the age of 70.

The article also quotes an “expert” who stated that phthalates cause liver and kidney damage--another position not supported by real evidence. The truth is that common exposures to phthalates carry insignificant risk.

JEFFREY R. SUCHARD, MD

Medical Toxicologist

UCI Medical Center, Orange