A new analysis reveals that exposure to prevalent chemicals within plastics and cosmetics during pregnancy is linked to preterm birth risk.
Chemical Exposure and Preterm Birth Risk
The study covered the data of women who participated in the ECHO (Environmental Influences on Child Health) Program of the National Institutes of Health from 1998 to 2022. The authors looked into 20 phthalate metabolite levels within samples of urine that were taken at three different points in pregnancy. They also considered other factors that could influence the results, including the ethnicity and age of the mother.
The study "Prenatal phthalate exposure and adverse birth outcomes in the USA: a prospective analysis of births and estimates of attributable burden and costs" found that chemicals within cosmetics and plastics that could disrupt hormones have been associated with almost 56,000 preterm births in 2018 in the US. The figures were extrapolated by the researchers as they analyzed the data of over 5,000 pregnant US women. This suggests that phthalate exposure is linked to a higher premature birth risk as well as birth weight that is lower than average.
Phthalates are chemicals that are widely included in several personal care products, including hair sprays and nail polishes. They can also be found in food packaging.
Through the trimesters, the phthalate byproduct concentration within the urine of the women stayed consistent. The most prevalent types were monoethyl phthalate, which can be found in products like soap and perfume, as well as phthalic acid, which is used for polyester production.
The analysis discovered that the pregnancy outcome likelihood was linked to the concentration of the breakdown of the chemical products within the urine of the mother. However, the study did not directly establish causation. Rather than this, it found a significant correlation between these variables.
The report saw that the birth timing changes were a matter of days. However, the impacts of having a shorter pregnancy could be substantial and heavy.
There are many ways that people have been exposed to phthalates. For one, the consumption of food that has been in contact with products containing phthalates is a form of exposure. This can also come with the inhalation of the chemicals in the air. These phthalates break down and become metabolites within the liver and get excreted in the urine.
According to Dr. Leonardo Trasande, the study's lead author and a pediatrics professor from NYU Langone Health, earlier studies have hinted that these chemicals could be a contributor to preterm birth. However, their data was limited, as the work did not cover populations that were racially or ethnically diverse, for one. Dr. Trasande also notes that the some phthalates that were included in these earlier studies have been changed and replaced by newer ones.
It is important to note, however, that there are several limitations that could have affected the findings. For one, the samples of urine could not be the best reflection of the body's exposure levels. There is also a possibility that the women were exposed to other phthalates that the team did not focus on searching for.
Nevertheless, according to Dr. Sophie Balk, who is a pediatrics professor from Albert Einstein College of Medicine and a pediatrician from the Children's Hospital, the study shows how these chemicals could lead to adverse health effects.
Preterm Birth
A birth is considered preterm when it happens too early, before the 37th week of gestation has finished. Typically, a pregnancy goes on for around 40 weeks.
Preterm birth impacted roughly one in 10 infants born in the US in 2022. This number goes up in countries with lower incomes.
Babies who are prematurely born typically experience health complications, especially if they are born extremely early. Premature birth complications are the leading cause of death among children below the age of five. Some common health conditions that premature babies may face include neonatal sepsis, apnea of prematurity, intraventricular hemorrhage, and retinopathy of prematurity, among others.
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