How can two widely used chemicals found in our daily products possibly lead to millions of preterm births and tens of thousands of infant deaths? A new study links two specific phthalates—petrochemicals derived from fossil fuels and added to plastic to make it flexible—to both terrifying outcomes. Specifically, they were associated with nearly 2 million premature births and the deaths of 74,000 newborns worldwide in 2018. And they’re still everywhere—in perfumes, cosmetics, cleaning products, detergents, bug repellents, and many household products.
To make sense of these upsetting new findings, Moms’ Co-Founder and Director Dominique Browning spoke earlier this week with the study’s senior author—and Moms’ go-to expert on all things plastic, hormones, and children’s health—Dr. Leonardo Trasande, MD, MPP, and the Jim G. Hendrick, MD, Professor of Pediatrics at NYU Grossman School of Medicine. In the livestreamed interview, Dr. Trasande broke down how phthalates enter our bodies and bloodstream through food or drink in plastic packaging or through contact with our skin. From there, they can disrupt our sex hormones, which are crucial to many of our body’s functions, including the functioning of the placenta.
Tell Congress: Protect Our Families From Harmful Toxic Chemicals
In their wide-ranging discussion, Dr. Trasande unpacked how hormone disruption can lead to pregnancy complications, how much this is costing our families, and what we can do about it. Here are 4 important takeaways from the conversation.
1. Plastic chemicals are a preventable risk factor for preterm birth.
When phthalate exposure disrupts placenta function, it can trigger preterm labor. This latest study from Dr. Trasande and his colleagues at NYU Langone Health builds on decades of research from populations of moms and babies that has shown a direct association between prenatal exposure to phthalates and increases in premature or preterm birth. Babies born early have had less time in utero for body and brain development. This means premature babies can experience decreases in cognitive potential, early heart disease, and years of life lost. And in many parts of the world, premature birth is fatal.
“Plastics are a preventable risk factor for preterm birth, in contrast to genetics and other factors we can’t control,” says Dr. Trasande. “If we can reduce plastic pollution, we can reduce preterm birth.”
2. We can’t fully fix a problem we don’t fully understand.
The scientific community currently knows a lot about the chemicals used in plastics, how they can affect human health, and even what we can do to reduce harmful chemical exposures. “The part we don’t understand,” says Dr. Trasande, “are the micro- and nanoplastic effects.” Micro- and nanoplastics are tiny particles of plastic that can penetrate skin pores and cell membranes. They are in our food and beverages and even in the air we breathe. Dr. Trasande thinks they could be the delivery systems for the toxic effects of chemicals like phthalates—but more study is needed to be sure.
Dr. Trasande wants to see “a massive research agenda” that includes testing for exposure to microplastics and plastic chemicals at local clinics and doctors’ offices. Data from a large-scale study like this could help us understand how micro- and nanoplastics burrow into tissue and pass the blood-brain barrier. This information could not only help doctors better treat and prevent plastics-related health issues but could help chemists and engineers design healthier, more sustainable products. “It opens up a broader roadmap for solving this problem,” argues Dr. Trasande.
3. Diseases related to plastic chemical exposure cost us all.
“When we talk about plastics, we’re talking about $250 billion in disease costs in the U.S. alone,” says Dr. Trasande. That’s 1.2% of our gross domestic product—a massive number that will likely grow larger in the coming years. Plastics production is expected to triple by 2050. More production means more exposure to plastic chemicals, more plastics-related disease, and greater health care costs related to this toxic industry.
4. We need to attack the plastic problem from every angle.
We can all take simple steps in our daily life to reduce our plastic exposure, like switching to glass and stainless steel food containers and avoiding microwaving plastics or putting them in the washing machine. But it can’t be entirely up to individuals to solve this problem.
“We need steps taken in the U.S. and in individual states to reduce the use of toxic chemicals in the materials in our furniture, our personal care products, our cosmetics, our food packaging,” says Dr. Trasande. He points to the 2016 update of the Toxic Substances Control Act as an example of an important step forward because it returned the U.S. to a paradigm of testing chemicals for safety before using them in products. This foundational law is currently under attack in Congress, with draft bills in the House and Senate that aim to make it easier for industry to bring new chemicals to market. This is extremely alarming. As Dr. Trasande insists, “We cannot have an innocent until proven guilty toxicological approach.”
He points to state-based regulations as a potent antidote to the loosening of industry standards at the federal level. “Manufacturers can’t produce 50 different versions of a material,” Dr. Trasande points out, suggesting they would instead make one or two materials that adhere to the most stringent state chemical safety rules.
Ultimately, says Dr. Trasande, we have to “attack this problem from multiple angles.” Studies like his latest are one critical part of the solution.
Watch Dominique’s full conversation with Dr. Trasande here.
Tell Congress: Protect Our Families From Harmful Toxic Chemicals