Tag : Ph.D.

Washington: Pregnant women who were exposed to multiple phthalates during pregnancy had an increased risk of preterm birth, according to new research. Phthalates are chemicals used in personal care products, such as cosmetics, as well as in solvents, detergents, and food packaging. After analyzing data from more than 6,000 pregnant women in the United States, researchers found that women with higher concentrations of several phthalate metabolites in their urine were more likely to deliver their babies preterm, which is delivering three or more weeks before a mother's due date. "Having a preterm birth can be dangerous for both baby and mom, so it is important to identify risk factors that could prevent it," said Kelly Ferguson, Ph.D., an epidemiologist at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), part of NIH, and the senior author on the study published in the journal JAMA Pediatrics. In this study, the largest study to date on this topic, Ferguson and her team pooled data from 16 studies conducted across the United States that included individual participant data on prenatal urinary phthalate metabolites (representing exposure to phthalates) as well as the timing of delivery. Researchers analyzed data from a total of 6,045 pregnant women who delivered between 1983-2018. Nine per cent, or 539, of the women in the study, delivered preterm. Phthalate metabolites were detected in more than 96% of urine samples. Higher concentrations of most phthalate metabolites examined were associated with slightly higher odds of preterm birth. Exposure to four of the 11 phthalates found in pregnant women was associated with a 14-16% greater probability of having a preterm birth. The most consistent findings were for exposure t ...