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reminder for my followers
not gonna say it again
Oh man I’m gonna make this doubly unfunny, but everyone in the comments explaining the joke is getting it wrong and I can’t help myself.
DEHP and DINP are two types of phthalates, which are plasticizers used in manufacturing processes to soften plastics and make them easier to mold or send through hot machines at a very rapid speed. Not all types of plastics use plasticizers (you’re more likely to see them in PVC and less likely to see them in polyethylene, for example), but they can also pop up in surprising non-plastic places like t-shirt decals and shampoo and flooring. They’re basically everywhere, sorry.
They do not cause cancer as far as we know. They’re endocrine blockers, meaning they actually fuck with sex hormones, reproductive systems, and brain development in infants and children, so “most likely not carcinogenic” is just a cherry on top of a shit sundae. They’re not great for adults, but they’re really bad for infants and children, including babbies in the womb, which is why chemical regulation on phthalates mostly focuses on children’s products.
So, when buying stuff for your kidlets, take a look at the packaging and see if the manufacturer is doing their due diligence for safety. Key words to look out for are things like CPSIA/CPSA compliant, CA Prop 65 compliant, or lead and phthalate free/safe. These are important selling features because 1) legally they’re supposed to be meeting these standards to sell kids’ products in the US, 2) mommy bloggers wield an outsize influence with companies to make kids’ products and they tend to call out shit product safety in reviews, and 3) lab testing is expensive and if companies are doing the work they’ll wanna brag about it.
So if you don’t see these words on the packaging or website of your favorite kids’ brands, pop on over to their Facebook or Twitter and ask them … why not?
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