Chemicals in Plastics Can Lead to Preterm Births Says New Study

Chemicals commonly used in plastic food containers and other products can lead to thousands of preterm births in the U.S. each year, according to a new study by Lancet Planetary Health.

The study found that hormone-disrupting chemicals in plastics and other everyday household items may be linked to over 56,000 preterm births in the U.S. in 2018 alone. It suggests that exposure to phthalates — chemicals widely used in personal care products, as well as in food packaging — is associated with an increased risk of premature birth and lower-than-average birth weight.

People can be exposed to phthalates in many ways. These chemicals can be ingested when consuming foods that touch phthalate-containing products, or people can inhale the chemicals from the air. Phthalates are then broken down into metabolites in the liver and excreted in urine.

“In a large, diverse sample of US births, exposure to DEHP, DiDP, DiNP, and DnOP were associated with decreased gestational age and increased risk of preterm birth, suggesting substantial opportunities for prevention. This finding suggests the adverse consequences of substituting DEHP with chemically similar phthalates and [the] need to regulate chemicals with similar properties as a class,” the Lancet Planetary Health study reads.

According to estimates in the new study, over the 56,000 children’s lifetimes, the additional medical costs and lost economic productivity tied to preterm birth could amount to between $1.6 and $8.1 billion. The study found these pregnancy outcomes were tied to how phthalate breaks down, as evidenced by testing the subjects’ urine samples.

However, it didn’t directly demonstrate that the chemicals caused the preterm births. Instead, it found a correlation between the chemicals and preterm births.

The World Health Organization defines preterm birth as babies born alive before 37 completed weeks of pregnancy. These are broken down into several different categories.

The categories of preterm birth are extremely preterm (less than 28 weeks), very preterm (28 to less than 32 weeks), and moderate to late preterm (32 to 37 weeks). WHO regularly updates clinical guidelines for the management of pregnancy and mothers with preterm labor or who are at risk of preterm birth. They also share guidelines on the care of preterm and low birth weight babies.