• are man-made organic chemicals;
• They are added to plastic,to make it flexible, resilient and easier to handle:
• They include endocrine disrupting and controversial phthalates:

Claims as to the number of plasticisers out there vary from  300 different types of plasticisers to approximately 50.  

Over the last 60 years more than 30,000 different substances have been evaluated for their plasticising properties. After meeting the rigorous performance, cost, availability, health and environmental requirements which are imposed by the market, users and regulators only 50 are in use.

The most common plasticisers include esters such as adipates, azelates, citrates, benzoates, orthophthalates, terephthalates, sebacates, and trimellitates.

In 1999, the global volume of plasticizers was approximate 10 billion lbs, or about $5 billion.The market has an average yearly growth rate of 2-3%.

Of the ester plasticizers, standard phthalate esters comprise over 85% or the tonnage produced every year. They command the market due to their low cost and easy availability. Other common plasticizers include specialty phthalate esters, adipates, and trimellitates (which are used for low-temperature applications).

Over 90% of the plasticizer volume produced every year goes into Poly(Vinyl Chloride), or PVC. This polymer is found in anything from food packaging to construction materials to toys to medical

Most Common Phthalates In Use (Wikkipedia)