High phthalates are a family of chemical compounds primarily used to make polyvinyl chloride (PVC)—or vinyl—flexible, pliant and durable. Flexible vinyl products made with high phthalates can help reduce a building’s environmental footprint. Phthalates are widely used, and even when scientists hypothesize extreme exposures from phthalates in building products, because of unique properties of high phthalates, the predicted exposure levels are hundreds or thousands of times below the safe level established by regulatory authorities.