Phthalate exposures

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Women take multiple drugs during pregnancy and are exposed to environmental toxicants in industrial locations. Their fetuses also are exposed to tobacco, alcohol, and often illicit drugs, depending on maternal behavior. A class of environmental toxicants that have recently attracted attention is the phthalates in plastics that are unavoidable in a modern environment. Zhang et al asked if maternal phthalate and fetal phthalate exposures correlated with low birth weight in Shanghai, China. They could detect different phthalates in over 70% of maternal blood, cord blood, and meconium samples. Several of the phthalates correlated with low birth weight in a dose dependent manner. Although these findings are simply associations, this study supports the accelerating efforts to minimize phthalate exposures, especially those resulting from medical care.

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