Posted on February 5, 2014 by adminPhthalates — pronounced THAL-ates — are a family of chemicals, many of which are have been added to PVC plastic to make the firm product softer and flexible. Over the course of the past decade-plus, no chemical group in common use has taken such vitriolic attacks on its safety as have phthalates.In recent years, a distinction has come to be accepted between “high molecular weight” phthalates (high phthalates, HPh) and “low molecular weight” phthalates (low phthalates, LPh). The LPh group has been deemed more of a concern among some scientists and regulators, as well as anti-chemical activist groups, as compared with HPh’s. In the EU, whose REACH standards are now evaluating different chemicals for possible toxic effects and enhanced regulation (including bans), the LPh group has been effectively marked for removal from the market within a few years, while the HPh compounds are being held in a better light. Read more.