Therapist Unlimited Blog

Parents around the world need to be careful in the use phthalates as new pieces of evidence, showed that exposure to that kind of chemical compound could result in low birth weights in infants.
Phthalates is a chemical compound used as plasticizers in a wide variety of personal care products, children’s toys, and medical devices.
It is said that low birth weight is the leading cause of death in children under 5 years of age and increases the risk of cardiovascular and metabolic disease in adulthood.
Based on the research conducted by medical experts they found out that utero phthalate exposure contributes to low birth weight in infants.
Dr. Renshan Ge of the Population Council and colleagues from Fudan University and Second Military Medical University in Shanghai studied 201 pairs of newborns and their mothers between 2005 and 2006.

Pregnant women need to avoid exposure to phthalates since it could lead to low birth weight for their infants.

 Of the 201 infants studied, 88 were born with low birth weight. The researchers analyzed samples of the infants’ meconium, the first bowel movement that occurs after birth, and cord blood to determine phthalate levels.
They found quantifiable levels of phthalate and phthalate metabolites in more than 70% of the samples. Infants with low birth weight had consistently higher levels of phthalates.
Ge said the results showed that phthalate exposure was ubiquitous in these newborns, and that prenatal phthalate exposure might be an environmental risk factor for low birth weight in infants.
The researchers said that with the possible harmful effects it offers there is a need to minimize phthalate exposure.