DEP, or diethyl phthalate, is a clear liquid with no or little odor. It is the lightest in weight of the commonly used phthalates, and is sometimes used in cosmetics, personal care products and air fresheners to make fragrances last longer.
DEP, like other phthalates on the market today, does not build up in the body, and instead begins to breakdown within minutes and is quickly metabolized. In fact, based on U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention studies, average phthalates exposures are far below levels of concern as set by U.S. federal agencies.
Long History of Safe Use
DEP has enjoyed a long history of safe use and continues to be approved for use in cosmetics and personal care products by regulatory agencies around the globe.
In its most recent review in March 2007, the European Commission Scientific Committee on Consumer Products1 reaffirmed an earlier determination that there is a very large margin of safety (15,000) when DEP is used as a fragrance solvent at concentrations up to 50 percent of the fragrance mix (or less than 2% of the total perfume product). In the United States, the Cosmetic Ingredient Review (CIR) expert panel, in a process sanctioned by the Food and Drug Administration, found DEP "safe for use in cosmetic products in the present practices of use and concentration." In particular, the CIR review noted that DEP does “not affect estrogen-regulated developmental endpoints” and did not express concern about potential effects on male development.2
In some cases, agencies charged with reviewing the safety of compounds, such as the National Toxicology Program, have elected not to review DEP because of the lack of evidence of any adverse health effects. In the environment, DEP rapidly degrades wherever it is—in the air, water, soil, or sediment. Because of this, and because DEP has a low potential to build up in organisms and shows a low degree of toxicity in aquatic wildlife, DEP is not a "PBT"—that is, it is not classified as persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic.
Although some manufacturers have voluntarily chosen to remove DEP from some fragrance applications to address market and other concerns, there is no scientific or regulatory basis for removing phthalates from fragrances.
1 European Commission, Scientific Committee on Consumer Products, Opinion on Phthalates in Cosmetic Products (March 21, 2007).
2 CIR, Annual Review of Cosmetic Ingredient Safety Assessments—2002/2003, Intl. Journal of Toxicology 24(Supp. 1): 1-102 (2005).
