We are all tired of being told everything is fine while our kids get sicker, chronic diseases rise, and toxic exposures increase.
So when EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin announced on December 31, 2025 that EPA intends “to regulate dozens of uses of five phthalates”—hormone-disrupting chemicals commonly used in everyday plastic products—some may have thought this was a good thing for the health of Americans.
It wasn’t.
Instead, EPA’s announcement follows a familiar and troubling pattern: chemical industry science and corporate profits prioritized over the health of our families.
Despite overwhelming evidence of harm, the EPA does not plan to regulate phthalates in consumer products, even though children and women of childbearing age are among the most vulnerable to their hormone-disrupting effects. Buried in the EPA’s press release was this startling admission:
“For the consumer uses that are part of this TSCA risk evaluation, EPA found no products with exposure levels that are causing unreasonable risk to the general population.” (emphasis added)
That’s right. EPA is recommending no action to safeguard consumers from hormone-disrupting phthalates under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA).
It’s hard to see how the EPA’s decision protects anyone’s health. It does, however, protect the big chemical corporations that make and use these chemicals.
Phthalates: the “everywhere chemicals” in consumer products
EPA’s conclusion runs counter to the growing body of science showing that families, especially children, are regularly exposed to phthalates from many everyday products like vinyl flooring and wall coverings, wiring, children’s toys, and baby products. Exposure happens through indoor air and household dust, as well as through direct contact—touching and chewing on PVC plastic products.
If EPA were truly relying on “gold standard science,” it would follow the lead of states and companies that have already banned phthalates in consumer products and switched to safer alternatives. We have been working for decades to eliminate this old chemistry in favor of safer solutions, including reducing unnecessary plastic use altogether.
States from Washington to Maine, along with major retailers like Walmart and The Home Depot, have adopted common-sense policies to ban phthalates to protect people’s health, especially children and pregnant women. Congress did the same in 2008, when bipartisan federal law restricted eight phthalates in children’s toys and baby products—yet those same hormone-disrupting chemicals remain unregulated across other consumer products.
Why this matters
Nearly every American has measurable levels of phthalates in their body. These chemicals have been linked to serious health problems on the rise, from birth defects and infertility to ADHD, asthma, and early puberty in children.
Exposures to these chemicals are regular, repeated, and can be avoided by removing these chemicals from products. This is exactly the kind of common-sense action Congress intended EPA to take when it reformed TSCA in 2016.
Is EPA’s announcement good news for workers?
Probably not.
EPA said that all five phthalates evaluated “pose unreasonable risks to workers and the environment,” but signaled no intention to ban the chemicals. Instead, it will most likely rely on personal protective equipment (PPE), which has proven woefully inadequate. Relying on PPE to control toxic chemicals has repeatedly failed workers, especially in real-world conditions where equipment isn’t properly used, workers are inadequately trained, or protective gear is unavailable. Workers deserve protections that eliminate hazards at the source, not policies that shift the burden onto individuals.
Health protections from chemicals are under attack in Congress
EPA’s announcement comes amid mounting concern that chemical industry lobbyists wield outsized influence over federal chemical policy. At the same time, Big Chem is pushing Congress to weaken TSCA itself.
That’s why, in December, Toxic-Free Future organized a letter signed by more than 250 public health, consumer, and environmental organizations to urge Congress to reject efforts to further erode chemical safety protections.
Banning unnecessary toxic chemicals like phthalates and advancing safer solutions is one of the most effective ways we can protect the health of Americans. EPA’s announcement falls far short of that goal and represents a missed opportunity to protect health, workers, and the environment.
Director of Safer Chemicals Healthy Families, Toxic-Free Future's federal policy program
Liz Hitchcock is director of Toxic-Free Future’s federal policy program. She leads advocacy efforts with Congress, EPA and other federal agencies.
Senior Director of Programs and Strategy
Mike Schade leads Toxic-Free Future’s Mind the Store program, which challenges retailers to shift the marketplace away from hazardous chemicals and develop comprehensive safer chemicals policies.
