Phthalates are a large family of synthetic chemicals used for very different purposes. Some are added to plastics to make them softer and more flexible. Others have been used in cosmetics and personal-care products as solvents, film-forming aids, or fragrance fixatives. They can be found in products ranging from vinyl and food packaging to adhesives, household materials, cosmetics, perfumes, shampoos, lotions, and other fragranced products.¹ ²

No Nines™ does not formulate with phthalates.

The reason is not that every phthalate has the same toxicological profile. They do not.

It is that several widely used members of the phthalate family have substantial reproductive and developmental toxicity evidence; phthalate exposure occurs from multiple everyday sources; some phthalates can contribute to endocrine-related effects; and these chemicals are simply not necessary to make the cleaning, skin, personal-care, baby, or pet products we formulate.³ ⁴ ⁵

When an ingredient family can add another route of exposure without being necessary for the product to perform, our approach is straightforward: leave it out.

What are phthalates?

Phthalates are esters of phthalic acid. Dozens of individual phthalates have been manufactured, and their uses and toxicological properties differ.

Higher-molecular-weight phthalates such as DEHP and DINP have historically been used primarily as plasticizers in flexible PVC and other plastics. Lower-molecular-weight phthalates such as DEP and DBP have also been used in personal-care products, cosmetics, coatings, and fragrance systems.¹ ³

Commonly discussed phthalates include:

• DEHP — di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate
• DBP — dibutyl phthalate
• DIBP — diisobutyl phthalate
• BBP — benzyl butyl phthalate
• DINP — diisononyl phthalate
• DCHP — dicyclohexyl phthalate
• DEP — diethyl phthalate

That distinction matters because “phthalates” are not one chemical, and the evidence should not be treated as though every member of the family behaves identically.

The strongest reproductive toxicity concerns are associated with particular phthalates rather than every compound carrying the phthalate name.³ ⁵

They can migrate out of the materials that contain them

When phthalates are used as plasticizers, they are generally not permanently chemically bound to the plastic matrix. They can therefore migrate from materials over time and enter surrounding air, dust, food, liquids, or other materials.¹

People can be exposed through several routes, including:

• ingestion
• inhalation
• household dust
• food and food-contact materials
• skin contact
• cosmetics and personal-care products
• medical materials
• fragranced products

CDC's National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey has measured numerous phthalate metabolites in urine specifically as biomarkers of recent human exposure.²

Phthalates are metabolized and eliminated relatively quickly compared with chemicals that remain stored in the body for years. But a chemical does not have to remain in the body for years for exposure to be frequent.

Repeated use of products containing phthalates can create repeated exposure.

Fragrance can be an exposure source

One reason phthalates became particularly relevant to personal-care products is their use in fragrance systems.

FDA identifies diethyl phthalate (DEP) as a phthalate historically used as a solvent and fixative in fragrances.¹

Research measuring urinary metabolites has also demonstrated the connection between fragranced-product use and phthalate exposure.

In a study of 337 women, Parlett, Calafat and Swan found that women reporting perfume use had approximately 2.9 times the urinary concentration of monoethyl phthalate (MEP) — the primary metabolite of DEP — compared with women who did not report perfume use. Greater use of personal-care products was also associated with increasing MEP concentrations.⁶

This becomes particularly relevant because fragrance formulas may be identified on a cosmetic ingredient label simply as “fragrance” or “parfum.” FDA notes that individual fragrance ingredients generally do not have to be separately disclosed, meaning a consumer may not always be able to determine from the ingredient declaration whether a phthalate is present as part of a fragrance mixture.¹

This is one of the reasons our exclusion of synthetic fragrance and our exclusion of phthalates reinforce one another.

We do not need a fragrance fixative when we do not formulate with synthetic fragrance in the first place.

What does the endocrine-disruption research show?

Phthalates are frequently discussed in the scientific literature on endocrine-disrupting chemicals, but the terminology needs to be used carefully.

The World Health Organization and United Nations Environment Programme have evaluated phthalates within the broader scientific literature concerning chemicals capable of interfering with endocrine signaling and reproductive development. Their State of the Science of Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals — 2012 report identifies endocrine disruption during sensitive developmental periods as a particular area of concern and discusses evidence involving phthalate exposure.⁴

EPA likewise identifies toxicity and widespread exposure as reasons for concern about several phthalates and notes that development of the male reproductive system is among the most sensitive toxicological endpoints observed for some members of this chemical family.³

More recent EPA assessments have become even more specific. For example, EPA's final evaluation of DINP describes developmental toxicity and effects on the developing male reproductive system, including reductions in fetal testicular testosterone and other reproductive-development effects.⁷

The important point is not that every phthalate behaves identically.

It is that endocrine and reproductive effects are well enough established for particular phthalates that they cannot reasonably be treated as simply an inert, interchangeable family of formulation ingredients.

Male reproductive development is one of the best-studied concerns

A systematic review of human epidemiological research published in Environment International evaluated six commonly studied phthalates.

The authors found robust evidence of associations between DEHP and DBP exposure and male reproductive outcomes. Outcomes evaluated included semen parameters, testosterone, time to pregnancy, pubertal development, and measures of male reproductive development. Evidence varied substantially among the individual phthalates studied.⁵

Earlier human research also reported associations between prenatal phthalate exposure and altered anogenital distance in male infants, a developmental measurement influenced by androgen signaling during fetal development.⁸

Animal toxicology provides another major part of the evidence base. EPA and other toxicology authorities have repeatedly identified the developing male reproductive tract as a sensitive target for several phthalates.³ ⁷

That body of research is why discussions about phthalates frequently focus not simply on general toxicity, but specifically on hormonal signaling, fetal development, reproductive development, and fertility.

Female reproductive and pregnancy research has also raised concerns

The research is not limited to male reproductive development.

A separate systematic review of human epidemiological studies evaluated phthalate exposure in relation to female reproductive and developmental outcomes. Among the outcomes studied were pubertal development, fertility-related measures, spontaneous abortion, and preterm birth.

The review found moderate evidence of a positive association between phthalate exposure and preterm birth, specifically for DEHP, DBP, and DEP.⁹

A much larger pooled analysis published in JAMA Pediatrics in 2022 combined data from 16 U.S. prospective cohorts involving 6,045 pregnancies.

Researchers found that higher urinary concentrations of several phthalate metabolites during pregnancy were associated with greater odds of preterm birth.¹⁰

That does not mean every exposure produces an adverse pregnancy outcome. It does demonstrate why reproductive and developmental exposure remains an active area of scientific concern.

Children receive special regulatory protection from several phthalates

Concern about developmental exposure has also resulted in specific U.S. restrictions.

Federal law and Consumer Product Safety Commission regulations prohibit children's toys and child-care articles from containing more than 0.1% of eight specified phthalates in accessible components:

• DEHP
• DBP
• BBP
• DINP
• DIBP
• DPENP
• DHEXP
• DCHP¹¹

These restrictions were enacted in response to concerns involving children's exposure and reproductive-development effects associated with particular phthalates.¹¹

These restrictions do not mean phthalates are universally prohibited in consumer products.

They demonstrate something more specific: regulators have determined that exposure to particular members of this chemical family warrants restriction in products used by children.

What about DEP in cosmetics?

This is an important distinction.

The phthalate historically most associated with fragrance and cosmetics is DEP, and its toxicological profile is not identical to that of DEHP, DBP, or several of the more strongly anti-androgenic phthalates.

FDA currently states that it does not have safety concerns about DEP as presently used in cosmetics and fragrances.¹

The systematic review of male reproductive outcomes likewise found substantially stronger evidence for DEHP and DBP than for DEP.⁵

That evidence belongs in an accurate discussion of phthalates.

Our formulation decision is broader.

We do not have to establish that every individual phthalate produces the same biological effect before deciding whether the ingredient family has a necessary place in our products.

If a fragrance solvent or fixative is unnecessary because the product contains no synthetic fragrance, there is no formulation reason to introduce that additional exposure.

If an alternative formulation can perform without a phthalate plasticizer, solvent, carrier, or processing aid, we choose the alternative.

Why No Nines™ leaves phthalates out

Phthalates illustrate an important distinction between hazard and formulation necessity.

Some members of this chemical family have considerably stronger toxicological evidence than others. Human studies do not establish the same degree of risk for every phthalate, every dose, every exposure route, or every use.

But formulation decisions do not occur in isolation.

People are exposed to chemicals from food packaging, household materials, personal-care products, indoor dust, plastics, workplaces, and many other sources. A product manufacturer controls only one portion of that total exposure.

We control ours.

So when we formulate a facial mist, baby product, personal-care product, household cleaner, or pet product, we ask a different question:

Does this chemistry need to be here at all?

For phthalates, our answer is no.

We do not use phthalates to soften a formulation.

We do not use them as fragrance fixatives.

We do not use them as fragrance solvents.

And we do not add them simply because they have traditionally been used in a particular product category.

Effective products do not require them.

No Nines™ Standard™

Effective chemistry doesn't require unnecessary exposure.

Our ingredient decisions consider not only whether an ingredient can perform a function, but also how much is required, how people are exposed to it, what happens when it is misused, and whether a different chemistry can accomplish the intended purpose with a more favorable exposure profile.

With phthalates, several members of the chemical family have significant reproductive and developmental toxicity evidence, exposure can occur repeatedly from many everyday sources, and their traditional functions can be achieved without putting them into our formulations.

So we leave them out.

No phthalates in our formulations. No unnecessary exposure.

That is the No Nines™ Standard™.

Published Sources & Further Reading

1. U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Phthalates in Cosmetics. U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition. Current FDA regulatory and scientific resource; accessed October 2, 2026. Includes FDA's 2004, 2006, and 2010 surveys of phthalates in cosmetics and FDA's current position regarding DEP use in cosmetics and fragrances.

2. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics. National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 2017–2018: Phthalates and Plasticizers Metabolites — Urine. Data Documentation, Codebook, and Frequencies. Data File PHTHTE_J.xpt. First published August 2021. National Center for Health Statistics, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

3. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Risk Management for Phthalates. Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention. Last updated October 31, 2025. See also Phthalates Action Plan, Docket ID EPA-HQ-OPPT-2010-0342.

4. Bergman Å, Heindel JJ, Jobling S, Kidd KA, Zoeller RT, eds. State of the Science of Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals — 2012. United Nations Environment Programme and World Health Organization, 2013. WHO ISBN 978-92-4-150503-1; UNEP ISBN 978-92-807-3274-0.

5. Radke EG, Braun JM, Meeker JD, Cooper GS. Phthalate exposure and male reproductive outcomes: A systematic review of the human epidemiological evidence. Environment International. 2018;121(Pt 1):764–793. DOI: 10.1016/j.envint.2018.07.029. PMID: 30336412.

6. Parlett LE, Calafat AM, Swan SH. Women's exposure to phthalates in relation to use of personal care products. Journal of Exposure Science & Environmental Epidemiology. 2013;23(2):197–206. DOI: 10.1038/jes.2012.105. PMID: 23168567.

7. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Risk Evaluation for Diisononyl Phthalate (DINP). Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention, January 2025. Docket ID EPA-HQ-OPPT-2018-0436. See also Nontechnical Summary of the TSCA Risk Evaluation for Diisononyl Phthalate (DINP), EPA Document No. EPA-740-S-25-001, January 2025.

8. Swan SH, Main KM, Liu F, et al.; Study for Future Families Research Team. Decrease in anogenital distance among male infants with prenatal phthalate exposure. Environmental Health Perspectives. 2005;113(8):1056–1061. DOI: 10.1289/ehp.8100. PMID: 16079079. PMCID: PMC1280349.

9. Radke EG, Glenn BS, Braun JM, Cooper GS. Phthalate exposure and female reproductive and developmental outcomes: a systematic review of the human epidemiological evidence. Environment International. 2019;130:104580. DOI: 10.1016/j.envint.2019.02.003. PMID: 31351310.

10. Welch BM, Keil AP, Buckley JP, et al. Associations Between Prenatal Urinary Biomarkers of Phthalate Exposure and Preterm Birth: A Pooled Study of 16 US Cohorts. JAMA Pediatrics. 2022;176(9):895–905. DOI: 10.1001/jamapediatrics.2022.2252.

11. U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. Phthalates Requirements for Children's Toys and Child Care Articles. Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008, Pub. L. No. 110-314, §108; codified at 15 U.S.C. § 2057c; implementing regulations at 16 C.F.R. Part 1307, including 16 C.F.R. § 1307.2.