The Columbia Center for Children's Environmental Health (CCCEH) states that children exposed to DEP and BBzP - two phthalate chemicals that are commonly used in personal care and plastic products, elevate the risk of asthma related airway inflammation.

Researchers included 244 children aged 5 to 9 in the study.  All the children had detectable levels of phthalates in their urine; although those with higher levels of both phthalates were associated with higher levels of nitric oxide in their exhaled breath - a marker of an inflamed airway.  BBzP exposure was especially strong among children who had recently reported the common asthma symptoms of wheezing and an early study linked it with eczema as well.

Dr. Allan Just, the first author of the study states, "While many factors contribute to childhood asthma, our study shows that exposure to phthalates may play a significant role."

"Many asthma patients only have asthma exacerbations a few times a year, making it difficult to discern short-term associations between environmental exposures and the disease," explains Matthew Perzanowski, Ph.D., senior author and Associate Professor of Environmental Health Sciences at the Mailman School. "To solve this problem, we used nitric oxide, which has been shown to be a reliable marker of airway inflammation in response to known asthma triggers like vehicle emissions."

Phthalates are widely used in many consumer products including vinyl, plastics, and personal care products.  Phthalates are absorbed into the body through inhalation, ingestion and through the skin.  Several phthalates have also been shown to disrupt the endocrine system and early exposure HAS been positively linked to asthma as well as other behavioral and reproductive issues.