Sex Toys and That New Car Smell

I titled my post Sex Toys and That New Car Smell because if I called it Phthalates in Plastics, nobody would read this. Phthalates are class of chemicals used to soften plastics, often plastics that need to be soft because they are used near our soft tissues (most notably children's toys and sex toys). Unfortunately, some phthalates are toxic. They have been linked to organ damage and genital defects in lab animals, and there is evidence that they can function as hormones, possibly interfering with normal sexual development. One urban legend about phthalates is that they give cars "that new car smell", but this has been disputed (although phthalates are present in new cars, they apparently don't have much odor. Fumes from other chemicals are more responsible for the smell). Starting in 2009, phthalates in baby toys will be illegal in the U.S. They are already illegal in Europe. If you are curious about the sex toys, read:

http://wweek.com/editorial/3323/8848

The Angry Toxocologist, linked off our own blog, has a post about phthalates:

http://angrytoxicologist.com/?p=86

A defender of phthalates has a blog here:

http://blog.phthalates.org/

Take note that this lady has worked in the chemical industry for years, and lives with her 8 cats, so you may want to read with a grain of salt.