Chemical In Plastics Linked To 350,000 Heart Disease Deaths 21
An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Hill: Daily exposure to certain chemicals used to manufacture household plastics may be connected to more than 356,000 cardiovascular-related deaths in 2018 alone, a new analysis has found. These chemicals, called phthalates, are present in products around the world but have particular popularity in the Middle East, South Asia, East Asia and the Pacific -- regions that collectively bore about 75 percent of the global death total, according to the research, published on Tuesday in the Lancet eBioMedicine.
Phthalates, often used in personal care products, children's toys and food packaging and processing materials, are known to disrupt hormone function and have been linked to birth defects, infertility, learning disabilities and neurological disorders. The NYU Langone Health team focused in the analysis on a kind of phthalate called di-2-ethylhexyl phthalate (DEHP), which is used to make items like food containers and medical equipment softer and more flexible. Scientists have already shown that exposure to DEHP can trigger an overactive immune response in the heart's arteries, which over time can be linked to increased risk of heart attack or stroke.
In the new analysis, the researchers estimated that DEHP exposure played a role in 356,238 global deaths in 2018, or nearly 13.5 percent of heart disease mortality among men and women ages 55 through 64. [...] These findings are in line with the team's previous research, which in 2021 determined that phthalates were connected to more than 50,000 premature deaths each year among older Americans -- most of whom succumbed to heart conditions. But this latest analysis is likely the first global estimate of cardiovascular mortality resulting from exposure to these environmental contaminants [...]. In a separate report from the New York Times, author Nina Agrawal highlights some of the caveats with the data.
First of all, the study relies heavily on statistical modeling and assumptions, drawing from prior research that may include biases and confounding factors like diet or socioeconomic status. It also uses U.S.-based risk estimates that may not generalize globally and focuses only on one type of phthalate (DEHP). Additionally, as Agrawal points out, this is an observational study, showing correlation rather than causation. As such, more direct, long-term research is needed to clarify the true health impact of phthalate exposure.
Phthalates, often used in personal care products, children's toys and food packaging and processing materials, are known to disrupt hormone function and have been linked to birth defects, infertility, learning disabilities and neurological disorders. The NYU Langone Health team focused in the analysis on a kind of phthalate called di-2-ethylhexyl phthalate (DEHP), which is used to make items like food containers and medical equipment softer and more flexible. Scientists have already shown that exposure to DEHP can trigger an overactive immune response in the heart's arteries, which over time can be linked to increased risk of heart attack or stroke.
In the new analysis, the researchers estimated that DEHP exposure played a role in 356,238 global deaths in 2018, or nearly 13.5 percent of heart disease mortality among men and women ages 55 through 64. [...] These findings are in line with the team's previous research, which in 2021 determined that phthalates were connected to more than 50,000 premature deaths each year among older Americans -- most of whom succumbed to heart conditions. But this latest analysis is likely the first global estimate of cardiovascular mortality resulting from exposure to these environmental contaminants [...]. In a separate report from the New York Times, author Nina Agrawal highlights some of the caveats with the data.
First of all, the study relies heavily on statistical modeling and assumptions, drawing from prior research that may include biases and confounding factors like diet or socioeconomic status. It also uses U.S.-based risk estimates that may not generalize globally and focuses only on one type of phthalate (DEHP). Additionally, as Agrawal points out, this is an observational study, showing correlation rather than causation. As such, more direct, long-term research is needed to clarify the true health impact of phthalate exposure.
Look at it from the bright side (Score:3)
These are not "deaths", really, but an evolutionary step. The humanitay is adapting to the hell on Earth it created just as it is looking into ways of spreading it out in outer spaaaace!
Re: (Score:2)
You're a consumer? Look for packaging that isn't PVC and you're likely to avoid plasticizers altogether.
Unfortunately that's not true, but I haven't been able to find good information on how often other household plastics contain plasticizers, and how much.
Re:DEHP = flexible PVC (Score:4, Informative)
"DEHP is a component of many household items, including tablecloths, floor tiles, shower curtains, garden hoses, rainwear, dolls, toys, shoes, medical tubing, furniture upholstery, and swimming pool liners. DEHP is an indoor air pollutant in homes and schools. Common exposures come from the use of DEHP as a fragrance carrier in cosmetics, personal care products, laundry detergents, colognes, scented candles, and air fresheners. The most common exposure to DEHP comes through food with an average consumption of 0.25 milligrams per day. It can also leach into a liquid that comes in contact with the plastic; it extracts faster into nonpolar solvents (e.g. oils and fats in foods packed in PVC). Fatty foods that are packaged in plastics that contain DEHP are more likely to have higher concentrations such as milk products, fish or seafood, and oils. The US FDA therefore permits use of DEHP-containing packaging only for foods that primarily contain water." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org]
Re: (Score:2)
You're a consumer? Look for packaging that isn't PVC and you're likely to avoid plasticizers altogether.
That's nonsense. If the plastic is flexible, it's probably got plasticizers in it.
https://www.azom.com/article.a... [azom.com]
https://www.productip.com/kb/p... [productip.com]
Plasticizers are most commonly used in high concentrations in PVC, because without them they're very brittle. But they are also used in any synthetic rubber products, so we run into them all the time. Notably, they are heavily used in tires, so we are all breathing them, all the time.
Nature's Revenge (Score:1)
So that's how Mother Nature gets us. Pollute my planet, I'll pollute you.
Re: (Score:2)
Indeed. But there really is no surprise here. This has been expected for a long, long time. But, as usual, humans are greedy, short-sighted, uneducated and dumb.
Re: (Score:1)
Figures need context (Score:4, Insightful)
It's not the journo's fault, because the numbers are right up in the findings, but saying that just under three quarters of the deaths occurred in the ME, S Asia, E Asia and the Pacific isn't very meaningful without knowing what percentage of the global population that represents, so we can see if this is a disproportionate death toll.
FWIW, Asia (including the ME, S Asia and E Asia, but also some places that may or may not be counted in the Lancet paper's calculations, like Turkey and Georgia), is about 60% of the world population. That suggests the share of deaths is somewhat disproportionate, and no doubt worth investigating further. But it's not *that* pronounced an effect.
the "cause of death" of the moment (Score:1)
Every few years, we have a new global scare, of a household product that is slowly killing us. And the claims are often backed by corporations with different interests in such products.
Remember the "low fat" fad a few years ago? Remember when eggs were terrible for your cholesterol? Or that milk was great and then it wasn't.
It's the 3 spidermen "my grandpa full of asbestos/my father full of lead/me full of microplastics" meme.
the worst are the "content creators" that, for views and ragebait, will treat such
Re: (Score:2)
We admit this is a janky model... (Score:2)
"It also uses U.S.-based risk estimates that may not generalize globally"
So they analyzed people in Asia and the Pacific as if they lived in the US?
I wonder how safe even water based foods are (Score:2)
I personally knew several guys, otherwise healthy, athletic guys, without history who died of heat attacks or 'natural causes' in their later 20s. Mostly healthy diets (at least where I ever observed) with a single exception.
At least two of them I am pretty confident were not using any recreational drugs, one might have smoked weed in an occasional way.
The one thing I do know that was true for all of them - at not point did they not have a 20z plastic soda bottle in hand. Which might been a flavored seltzer
Sudden cadiac death (Score:3)
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/a... [nih.gov]
"Sudden cardiac death (SCD) is the most frequent medical cause of sudden death in athletes"
Re: (Score:2)
Yeah these were people who were 'athletic' but not competitive athletes. They went for a jog, or a bike ride after work, played softball on the weekends, did a few back packing trips each year. Not people pushing themselves to the limit training daily or maxing out in competition regularly.
just active/fit types, vs couch potatoes.
why regional (Score:2)
Linked......maybe (Score:2)
The decline of journalism continues.
"Fresh Scent" (Score:2)
Pthalates are added to nearly all laundry detergents and "fabric softeners" and sold as "fresh scent" or "spring rain" or some other Bernaisian nonsense phrase like this.
They mimic the musk scent in sensation which is alluring to mammals, especially females (who predominantly purchase and utilize these products).
This practice is evil. "Smells good" is like "tastes good" in junk food.
Go for "free and clear" or "scent and dye free" detergents to avoid these toxins for your family. Fabric softeners are wholly