The Unnecessary Presence of Phthalates in Daily Living Aids

With the daily living aids market hosting a large variety of products from different companies, it is no surprise people are coming up with better ways to make their daily living aids, whether it be to reduce costs, increase product efficiency, or more importantly, their safety.Many daily living aids are used in the kitchen and in clinical areas, were hygiene is paramount, so it comes as a surprise that some products do feature materials which have toxic chemicals in them, albeit, maybe, a small amount, it still doesn't detract from the fact that this shows blatant bad practice and a disregard for human health, even if there is possible doubts in to the validity of the claims, in some circles anyway.With a large portion of the worlds populace being very health conscious, you would think that with such a product as daily living aids, the message would be a clear and positive selling point that the products aren't toxic, but then some companies take advantage of the ignorance, nay, rather the lack of knowledge on the part of the general public.Phthalate plasticisers are a chemical used to soften plastics, and comes in many forms. What once would have been used for PVC windows, can now, with the addition of phthalates, be used as a soft rubber-type product. While this seems like an amazing technological advancement, and in some situations is fine, is in fact potentially harmful to peoples health.Phthalates, if exposed to enough of them, will interfere with the bodies hormone system, disrupting its natural function, which can cause reproductive abnormalities and cause the early onset of puberty, amongst other defects, such as destroying the ability to be reproduced.A bill in the US has banned content of more than 0.1% of plasticisers in childrens toys, with many calling for them to be banned completely, and believe they will once more scientific advancement comes in.The question is, if these chemicals are known to have an adverse effect on human health, why would anyone choose to use them in products that are going to be handled by people on a regular basis?! Especially in food and healthcare areas.Rubber could be a good alternative to using this, apart from the side that it is expensive and inconsistent to manufacture with.Silicone rubber has actually appeared as an excellent substitute for daily living aids, due to it being inexpensive, has no toxic compounds, and is an inert substance, meaning it will not react to many chemicals, and can benefit from the addition of sterile compounds to increase it's hygienic benefits.