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Fritz Blumenthal, MD
Middletown, NY

A. P. Lundin, MD
State University of New York Downstate Medical Center Brooklyn

JAMA. 1986;256(20):2817-2818.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text PDF and any section headings.

To the Editor.—

Since 1940, di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP) has been used to make plastic materials pliable. Several years ago, DEHP was found to be carcinogenic in animals.¹ It is thought to be particularly hazardous for infants, who might absorb this chemical from pacifiers, teething rings, and plastic squeeze toys. Di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate is also present in flexible containers used for parenteral solutions and blood transfusions and in dialysis blood tubing.² Its use in testing respirators for leaks is cause for additional concern. Besides causing liver cancer, DEHP has been shown to cause chronic liver damage in monkeys in doses lower than those received by patients being treated with hemodialysis, as well as causing testicular damage, birth defects, and embryonic death in rodents.³ Drug metabolism by the liver is altered in rats given DEHP.⁴ Up to 1 million pounds are being produced yearly, and it has entered the . . . [Full Text PDF of this Article]

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