Flame-Retardant Chemicals Could Be Toxic to Kids

Study tied exposure in womb to hyperactivity, lower IQ

By Robert Preidt

HealthDay Reporter

MONDAY, May 6 (HealthDay News) -- Exposure to flame-retardant chemicals in the womb is associated with hyperactivity and lower intelligence in children, a new study indicates.

Researchers examined the effects of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), which were used for decades as fire retardants in common products such as carpeting, baby strollers and electronics.

"In animal studies, PBDEs can disrupt thyroid hormone and cause hyperactivity and learning problems. Our study adds to several other human studies to highlight the need to reduce exposure to PBDEs in pregnant women," study author Dr. Aimin Chen, an assistant professor in the department of environmental health at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, said in an American Academy of Pediatrics news release.

The researchers looked at PBDE levels in blood samples from 309 pregnant women and then performed intelligence and behavior tests on the women's children each year until they were 5.

They found that PBDE exposure in the womb was associated with hyperactivity at ages 2 to 5, and with lower intelligence at age 5. A tenfold increase in PBDE exposure during pregnancy was related to about a four-point IQ deficit in 5-year-old children.

While the study tied PBDE exposure during pregnancy to later hyperactivity and lower intelligence, it did not prove a cause-and-effect relationship.

The study was to be presented Monday at the Pediatric Academic Societies annual meeting in Washington, D.C.

PBDEs were mostly withdrawn from the U.S. market in 2004, but they are present in many consumer products bought several years ago and still widely used by Americans, according to the news release. In addition, PBDEs remain in human tissue for a long time and a pregnant woman can transfer them to her fetus.

"Because PBDEs exist in the home and office environment as they are contained in old furniture, carpet pads, foams and electronics, the study raises further concern about their toxicity in developing children," Chen concluded.

Research presented at medical meetings should be viewed as preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed journal.

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Foods Might Serve Up High Levels of Chemicals Found in Plastics

By Carina Storrs

HealthDay Reporter

WEDNESDAY, Feb. 27 (HealthDay News) -- Bisphenol A (BPA) and phthalates, two types of chemicals in plastics that have been linked to a number of health effects, could still find their way into your body even if you avoid foods that are shipped, stored or cooked using plastic materials, new research suggests.

The findings are based on a small study that followed 10 families for five days. Half of the families got catered meals made with fresh, local ingredients that were not stored or prepared with plastics.

The other half got a handout on how to avoid BPA and phthalates in their diet, such as not microwaving foods and drinks in plastic containers and avoiding food in cans, which are often lined in BPA-containing material.

"We fully expected to see reductions in the catered-diet group, and hoped the other group would also have reductions" in their levels of these chemicals, said study author Dr. Sheela Sathyanarayana, an assistant professor of pediatrics at the University of Washington in Seattle.

Instead, the researchers found that all but one person in the catered-diet group had a spike in phthalate levels in their urine during the five-day diet intervention, and a more modest increase in their BPA levels. In contrast, the group that got handouts had steady levels of these chemicals over the study period.

The researchers then tested the ingredients in the catered diet to track down the source of phthalate exposure and detected high levels in milk, butter and cream, and also in some of the spices, such as cinnamon and ground coriander.

"Several studies have found that high-fat dairy tends to contain high concentration of phthalates, maybe because of phthalates in the plastic tubing that milk goes through to get to the final containers, and it may be in animal products, such as feed," Sathyanarayana said.

Overall, the more processed the food, the more likely it could come into contact with materials that contain phthalates, and phthalates can easily leach from these materials into food, Sathyanarayana explained. Spices could be one type of highly processed food, she added.

Unfortunately, consumers have no way of knowing which products or brands contain phthalates because manufacturers themselves don't know whether their processing materials contain phthalates, Sathyanarayana added.

Brent Collett and his wife and kids were one of the families that received the catered diet for Sathyanarayana's study. At the end of the study, Collett and the other families received a letter telling them their phthalate and BPA levels and the foods that contained phthalates.

"To have ingredients [such as coriander] that is not a major part of diet lead to this increase was a bit of an eye-opener," said Collett, a psychologist at Seattle Children's Hospital. "There would be no way we as consumers could do any better" than the catered diet in this study at avoiding plastics, he added.

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Chemicals in Cookware, Carpets May Raise Arthritis Risk in Women

By Alan Mozes

HealthDay Reporter

THURSDAY, Feb. 14 (HealthDay News) -- In what researchers are calling a first, a new analysis suggests that the greater a woman's exposure to a type of common chemical compound called PFCs, the greater her risk for developing osteoarthritis.

Researchers did not find a similar risk among men regarding these chemicals, which are now found in everything from nonstick cookware to take-out containers and carpeting.

Osteoarthritis, the most common type of arthritis, causes pain and stiffness and involves degeneration of the cartilage in the joints.

And the study authors stressed that while their investigation identified a robust link between osteoarthritis and exposure to two specific PFC chemicals -- known as PFOA and PFOS -- for now the finding can only be described as an association, rather than a cause-and-effect relationship.

"But we did find a clear and strong association between exposure to [these] compounds and osteoarthritis, which is a very painful chronic disease," said study lead author Sarah Uhl, who conducted the study while working as a researcher at the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies in New Haven, Conn.

"This adds to the body of information that we have suggesting that these highly persistent synthetic chemicals are of concern when it comes to the public health," she said.

The new study appears in the Feb. 14 online issue of Environmental Health Perspectives.

Uhl noted that exposure to PFCs is nearly universal, given their inclusion in a vast array of products to enable (among other things) the grease-proofing of food packaging, waterproofing of rain gear, and textile stain protection.

Previous research has linked PFC exposure to a higher risk for the premature onset of menopause in women, higher levels of "bad" LDL cholesterol in men and women, and reduced effectiveness of routine vaccinations among children.

To explore a potential PFC-osteoarthritis connection, the authors looked at PFOA and PFOS exposure data collected between 2003 and 2008 by the U.S. National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.

The analysis covered more than 4,000 men and women between the ages of 20 and 84 for whom osteoarthritis status information was available.

The team found "significant associations" between osteoarthritis incidence and exposure to PFOA or PFOS among women but not men.

Women exposed to the highest levels of either chemical seemed to face up to nearly double the risk for developing osteoarthritis, compared to women exposed to the lowest levels.

The osteoarthritis-PFC connection also appeared to be stronger among younger women (between 20 and 49) than among older women (between 50 and 84). But the team said more follow-up research is needed to confirm the observation.

While the biological reason behind the potential connection remains unclear, the team suggested that the chemicals may have a particularly profound impact on hormonal balances for women.

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Chemicals in Cookware, Carpets May Raise Arthritis Risk in Women

Title: Chemicals in Cookware, Carpets May Raise Arthritis Risk in Women
Category: Health News
Created: 2/14/2013 10:35:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 2/14/2013 12:00:00 AM

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