Air pollution is more harmful through the skin through the airway

We all believe that toxins in polluted air enter the body through the respiratory system, but according to the latest study, many chemicals are able to penetrate the body through more skin contact. is through breathing.

Each of our breaths carries toxins from polluted air into the lungs, but the amount of toxins that blood absorbs from the lungs is very small.The largest part of the body is the skin and this is the body that absorbs a lot of toxic chemicals from the air. "The skin is a place that absorbs a lot of pollutants," said John Kissel, an environmental specialist at Washington University .

Research has shown that the rate of body penetration through the skin is quite slow but with the contact size for the whole body this is a big problem. The accumulation process will lead to more and more harmful chemicals in the body.

A group of worrisome chemicals is the original chemical Phthalates (THAAL-ayts), which is widely used in solvents and substrates in the plastics industry. Because of the popularity of related products that phthatales have been widely dispersed into the environment as well as being detected in the human body. Infants are at risk of exposure to this chemical in their womb and there have been many studies of the effects of phthalates on newborns and young children including the nervous and reproductive systems.

Some dangerous chemicals can enter the body through skin contact.These chemicals exist in many areas of life, from cosmetics to plastic products for babies.

An experiment by Danish scientists conducted on 6 male volunteers, was exposed to two types of phthalates: DEPH (diethylhexyl phthalate) and DBP (dibutyl phthalate). Each volunteer will be exposed to these two chemicals for 2 days with 6 hours of work / day.

Volunteers will be exposed to phthalates (within allowable limits) through the skin. Breathing is controlled by masks to ensure clean air. For DEPH, the amount of skin exposure is equivalent to that of the respiratory tract, and DBP is about 80% more exposed than breathing.

Charles Weschler, president of Rutgers University's research group, told the scientific journal Environmental Health Perspectives last October. The 6-hour exposure test is not the maximum time for skin exposure to obtain the most objective results. As calculated, if the exposure time lasts from 30 to 40 hours, the amount of phthalates in the blood will reach 6-8 times higher than the respiratory tract.

"The research has been conducted very carefully and in detail contributing to a better understanding of the routes of exposure to chemical substances in the polluted environment , " said Shanna Swan, Department of Epidemiology, Sinai Hospital, New York, for know. The new data helped explain the rise in phthalates levels in cases of neonatal intensive care. In these special care areas plastic materials containing Phthalates are very common, which may be the main cause of this phenomenon.

Environmental engineer Glenn Morrison wants to test the protective ability of clothing in preventing phthalates from contacting the body.In this trial Glenn used a special helmet to make sure the air he breathed was completely clean.

In the second experiment, Glenn Morrison conducted exposure to the same conditions that Danish scientists had done with clean cotton clothes and another case with cotton clothes exposed under phthalates contaminated gas conditions. 9 days. The team found that clean clothes reduce the amount of phthalates exposure compared to clothes that are exposed or without clothes.

Clean clothes are like a shield protecting the skin from polluted air, however, after overcoming this barrier, the moist and hot environment between the skin and clothing is a very good condition for the chemical. penetrates the skin. Not all phthalate-based chemicals are capable of penetrating the skin from the air, in return they are capable of dissolving into skin-exposed solvents such as nail polish and sunscreen.

The study also showed that among more than 100 chemicals present in the air today, more than 30 are likely to be exposed to the body through the skin. These chemicals are very popular in cosmetics and consumer industry.

Given the serious effects of chemicals in the air, researchers recommend that people should:

1. Absolutely do not use food, drinks . used by DEHP manufacturers as additives.
2. Be careful when using plastic products, plastics . are products that may contain phthalate derivatives.
3. Do not put too hot food in plastic bowls, cups, packaging . because the temperature is too hot for phthalates to blow out.Use banana leaves or wrapping paper instead of plastic packaging, plastic .

Due to the harmful effects of phthalate derivatives, the European Parliament currently does not allow the use of DBP (DEHP included in children's toys and cosmetics). According to Mr. Nguyen Cong Khan, Director of Food Safety Department, currently the World Health Organization (WHO) DEHP standard is 8 ppt / kg of food, the US standard is 6 ppt / kg of food, Vietnam is studying and soon issued the DEHP standard threshold in food.

Nail polish is also a source of exposure to phthalates through the skin.

Phthalates are chemicals that multiply phthalate. They include many substances such as: monobutyl phthalate (MBP), diethylhexyl phthalate (DEHP), diethyl phthalate (DEP), dibutyl phthalate (DBP), diisodecyl phthalate (DIDP), diisononyl phthalate (DINP), benzylbutyl phthalate (BZBP), monomethyl phthalate (MMP) .

Phthalate derivatives are identified as xenoestrogens, so they will be endocrine disruptors, specifically disrupting the sex hormonal system and causing precocious puberty in both girls and boys.