There's a common trust in the safety of a hospital. It's where lives are saved and where life enters the world. But if first-time parents think that leaving their premie babies under the care of hospitals using materials high in the chemical DEHP, otherwise known as di(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate, they'd better think again. A recent study conducted by scientists from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health discovered that premature babies may be exposed to DEHP levels between 4,000 and 160,000 times higher than levels considered safe, and may be hazardous to babies' health.

According to BBC, European regulators have classified DEHP as possibly carcinogenic to humans. And newborn babies in intensive care units were at a high-riskfor exposure to DEHP.

Lead author of the study, Dr. Eric B. Mallow, a neonatologist and senior research program coordinator at the Bloomberg School, says "It's remarkable that the care of sick and developmentally vulnerable preterm infants depends on an environment composed almost entirely of plastic."

Medical products that are made from PVC, or polyvinyl chloride, and used to treat infants include most types of intravenous tubes, catheters, endotracheal tubes, and bags that store blood and other fluids. Many of these items are used on preterm infants during weeks and perhaps months of treatment at a hospital's neonatal intensive care unit (NICU).

The research team calculated potential exposure based on studies that had shown how much DEHP could leak out of certain medical devices. Among the health effects of the chemical are problems in reproduction and in the development of the lungs, gut, brain and eyes.

Mallow said, "You need to consider the materials you are using when you're taking care of very tiny, very vulnerable patients."

However, despite the concerns on DEHP and infants exposure to high levels of the chemical, there has been no evidence to suggest that medical devices with DEHP have presented a serious health risk.

"Careful consideration should always be given when treating premature and sick babies" head of communications for premature baby charity Bliss, Duncan Wilbur says. "Any risk to the health and safety of these vulnerable babies created by medical products is a potential concern. Based on the findings of this study we would recommend that further research is needed."

The study is published in the online edition of the Journal of Perinatology.