Phthalates: Vague Possibility of Harm Equals Media Panic?

What we have here is a media frenzy over a preliminary report. I'm not throwing out any bath products, or babies, until the dust settles and some solid research is performed and reported.

What is the effect of phthlates on babies?

Here's what the doctor supervising the study, Dr. Sheela Sathyanarayana, said as reported by the Associated Press: "The bottom line is that these chemicals likely do exist in products that we're commonly using on our children and they potentially could cause health effects." That's as weasel-worded a statement as I have ever heard out of a politician, and not one I would expect from a scientist about a supposedly scientific study.

This makes me immediately want to ask her how likely is "likely", what do you mean by "potentially could", and exactly what "health effects" might these potentially likely chemicals cause? How does Dr. Sathyanarayana plan to distinguish the effects of phthlates from the effects of anything else in the product?

I find it strange that tea-tree oil and lavender oil have been linked, with slightly better evidence, to abnormal enlargement of the breasts in pre-pubertal boys, and reported by the New England Journal of Medicine but there hasn't been much media coverage and no one is demanding that they be removed from products . Do you think it's because "phthalate" sounds like a nasty chemical and "tea tree oil" and "lavender" sound like flowers, cute kittens and goodness, despite their proven unique endocrine disrupting ability?

What are Phthalates?

Wikipedia says "Phthalates, or phthalate esters, are a group of chemical compounds that are mainly used as plasticizers (substances added to plastics to increase their flexibility). They are chiefly used to turn polyvinyl chloride from a hard plastic into a flexible plastic."

Phthalates are also found in many fragrances used in cosmetics and personal care products.