Phthalates News and Research

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High concentrations of toxic pollutants were detected in stranded whales, dolphins

A study led by researchers at Florida Atlantic University's Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute examined toxins in tissue concentrations and pathology data from 83 stranded dolphins and whales along the southeastern coast of the United States from 2012 to 2018.

7 Aug 2020

Study shows chemical exposure may disrupt sleep in menopausal women

For menopausal women who have difficulty sleeping, it might be because of chemicals in the environment.A new study based on data from the Midlife Women's Health Study suggests that exposure to various chemicals, such as phthalates, found in hundreds of products used daily, is associated with sleep disruptions in midlife women

29 Jul 2020

Air pollution, smoking and built environment may play a role in childhood obesity

How do environmental exposures during pregnancy and childhood influence the risk of obesity in children? The Barcelona Institute for Global Health, a center supported by the "la Caixa" Foundation, and the University of Southern California led the first major study to investigate the associations between many pollutants and environmental factors --77 prenatal and 96 childhood exposures-- and the risk of childhood obesity.

24 Jun 2020

Dogs could help monitor how environmental chemicals impact human health

Man's best friend may also be man's best bet for figuring out how environmental chemicals could impact our health.

1 Jun 2020

Environmental chemicals linked to changes in the gut microbiome and health

The microbes that inhabit our bodies are influenced by what we eat, drink, breathe and absorb through our skin, and most of us are chronically exposed to natural and human-made environmental contaminants.

21 May 2020

Autism in young boys linked to phthalate exposure before birth

A new study published in February 2020 in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives shows that being exposed to phthalates during intrauterine life is associated with the occurrence of autistic traits in boys 3-4 years old, but not in girls. These include poor social interaction, repetitive behavior, and a narrow range of interests, stopping short of an actual diagnosis of autism.

19 Feb 2020

New study to measure effects of environmental exposure on young women's breasts

A University of Massachusetts Amherst cancer epidemiologist has received a $462,000 grant from the National Institutes of Health to expand her research into the effects of endocrine-disrupting chemicals on the breast density of college-age women. High breast density is a strong risk factor for breast cancer.

23 Jan 2020

Study sheds new light on impact of common plasticizer on human reproductive health

Researchers at Harvard Medical School and the New York State Department of Health have discovered how a common plasticizer associated with human reproductive abnormalities likely does its damage at the molecular level.

10 Jan 2020

Prenatal phthalate exposure may contribute to deficits in motor function in girls

Scientists at the Columbia Center for Children's Environmental Health (CCCEH) have uncovered a link between prenatal exposure to phthalates--a ubiquitous group of plasticizers and odor-enhancing chemicals--and deficits in motor function in girls.

6 Jan 2020

Common plasticizer leads to fertility problems in roundworms

A new study published 9th January in PLOS Genetics by Mónica Colaiácovo of Harvard Medical School and colleagues reports that the most commonly used plasticizer, diethylhexyl phthalate, leads to fertility problems by causing an excess number of breaks in the DNA during egg production, and then interfering with the repair systems that fixes the breaks.

2 Jan 2020

Exposure to phthalates and high levels of stress in late pregnancy linked to premature birth

Women exposed simultaneously to stress and plastic additives late in pregnancy are at increased risk for premature birth, according to a study by Rutgers and other institutions.

14 Nov 2019

Bisphenol-s and bisphenol-f may have less impact on heart function than bisphenol-a

Some chemical alternatives to plastic bisphenol-a (BPA), which is still commonly used in medical settings such as operating rooms and intensive care units, may be less disruptive to heart electrical function than BPA, according to a pre-clinical study that explored how the structural analogues bisphenol-s (BPS) and bisphenol-f (BPF) interact with the chemical and electrical functions of heart cells.

14 Nov 2019

New book series on current and future developments in food science

Advances in the Determination of Xenobiotics in Foods is the first volume of the new book series, Current and Future Developments in Food Science.

8 Nov 2019

Scientists receive $1.6 million grant to study impact of phthalate exposure on male fertility

A cross-disciplinary team of scientists, led by University of Massachusetts Amherst environmental epigeneticist Richard Pilsner, will use a three-year, $1.6 million grant from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences to expand research into the impact of phthalate exposure on male fertility.

30 Oct 2019

Higher levels of chemicals in mothers' system during pregnancy linked to lower IQ in children

Exposure during the first trimester of pregnancy to mixtures of suspected endocrine-disrupting chemicals found in consumer products is related to lower IQ in children by age 7, according to a study by researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and Karlstad University, Sweden, published in Environment International in October.

24 Oct 2019

Eating home-cooked meals reduces exposure to harmful chemicals, researchers say

Researchers have found that people reduce their exposure to harmful synthetic chemicals if they cook home-cooked meals rather than eat takeaways or at restaurants.

10 Oct 2019

Study examines role of plastic exposure in irregular heart rhythms, arrhythmias

Calling an ambulance during an emergency, emailing a breaking news or journal article before a 5 p.m. deadline and maintaining conditions during the fifth week of a 6-week lab study, without altering the light or temperature, requires electricity and translates into time, money and lives

22 Jul 2019