Recently, the U.S. Congress enacted a law banning phthalates, which are added to plastics to increase their flexibility, from toys and other children’s products. Europe had earlier taken this same action. Phthalates can cause abnormal reproductive tracts, sperm damage, and reduced testosterone.

Dr. Russ Hauser, a Harvard professor of environmental epidemiology, has called pharmaceuticals “an unrecognized source of potential high exposure (to phthalates).” There are at least 47 different prescription medications that contain phthalates. A thin layer of phthalate-containing polymer coats many timed-release medications.

A case study of a man who took the medication Asacol to treat his inflamed colon found that he was contaminated with 100 times more dibutyl phthalate than had ever been recorded in a human being. The se of phthalates in prescription and over-the-counter medication ignores the potential for high delivered doses of phthalates to vulnerable segments of the population -- including pregnant women and young children