Phthalates, BPA, Autism & ADHD linked to Fragrances, Cosmetics & Personal Care Products?

I keep bumping into studies that are downright shocking. So shocking I believe it's my duty to report on them. They're the basis for why I'm concerned about product ingredients in the first place.

Last week at Environmental Health News I found an abstract for a study on a group of chemicals called endocrine disrupting compounds (EDC). Here's the headline:  Moms exposed to BPA and phthalates during pregnancy report more autistic-like social behavior in their children. 

I recognized those ingredients, BPA and phthalates right away! They keep popping up on lists of pervasive and potentially dangerous chemicals to avoid. And just so you know, phthalates is pronounced "THalates", and bisphenol A is also known as "BPA". 

Before I talk about the research it's important you know both these chemicals are reported to be just about everywhere. BPA is used in polycarbonate plastics, thermal receipts and food can linings and phthalates are found in food packaging, cosmetics, personal care products and vinyl plastics. Both are instrumental in making plastic flexible.

Ready for a very simplified abstract of the study? Called Mount Sinai Children’s Environmental Health Study, it's based on the theory that pregnant women exposed to EDCs experience interference with hormone production. The researchers also theorized that changes occur in the brain of the unborn children that lead to a distinct group of problematic behaviors similar to those found in autism and ADHD.

The scientists tested their hypotheses by following 137 mothers and children from New York City for nine years. They didn't expose anyone to EDCs, but only measured the concentration of EDCs in the women's urine during their third trimester of pregnancy. When the children borne of these woman were between seven and nine years old the mothers were given a standardized testing scale and asked to report on their child’s social behavior.

The results? Higher concentrations of BPA and/or specific phthalates were clearly associated with atypical social behaviors such as poorer understanding of social cues, poorer social communication and poorer social awareness- all symptoms associated with autism and ADHD. An unexpected finding was the type of phthalates found in fragrances and personal care products were most strongly associated with the atypical social behaviors. 

What this all means to me is that being concerned about chemicals in our everyday products is critical to us all. Just a few weeks ago I read ADHD and autism are both on the rise and no one seems to understand why. Maybe we've got a solid clue right here.
 

Press here to go to the abstract for the study. And here's a link to the study from the journal, Neurotoxicology. If you don't like either of those, here's information about the study: Phthalates, BPA linked to atypical childhood social behaviors. Apr 06, 2011. Miodovnik, A, SM Engel, C Zhu, X Ye, LV Soorya, MJ Silva, AM Calafat and MS Wolff. 2011. Endocrine disruptors and childhood social impairment.