‘Safe’ Chemicals For Plastics Also Linked To Health Risks

According to the report published in the NYU Langone Medical Center website, the two chemicals are increasingly used during manufacturing to strengthen plastic wraps, soap, cosmetics, and processed food containers. A new study from the NYU Langone Medical Center suggests that a couple of chemicals found in plastics regarded as safe can actually have potential harm on children and adolescents, increasing their risk of diabetes and high blood pressure.

Moreover, previous research has also linked these chemicals to increased inflammation, which may also contribute to high blood pressure and insulin resistance, he said. Of the adolescents with particularly high DINP levels, one in three had high insulin resistance, while only one in four teens with low concentrations of the plastic chemicals had any resistance.

In different study, the same team examined 356 teens and found that there was another similar link between levels of the chemical and resistance to insulin, which can lead to the onset of diabetes. These plastic chemicals had replaced di-2-ethylhexylphthalate (DEHP), which had been proven to come with unsafe risks of its own.

The two new pieces of research are published in the journals Hypertension and The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism.

“Our research adds to growing concerns that environmental chemicals might be independent contributors to insulin resistance, elevated blood pressure and other metabolic disorders”, said one of the study authors, Dr. Leonardo Trasande. In the United States, manufacturers voluntarily began to replace DEHP with DINP and DIDP over the last decade.

The experts looked at urine samples from more than 1,300 children and teenagers, whose ages varied between 8 and 19.

Since 1999, NHANES has surveyed 5,000 volunteers annually about risk factors and diseases. Also, Trasande recommends steering clear of plastic containers labeled on the bottom with numbers 3,6, or 7, as they indicate phthalates were used in the making of the product.

Blood and urine samples were collected once between 2008 and 2012, and the study volunteers’ blood pressure was similarly measured.

Trasande says there are “safe and simple” steps families can take to limit exposure to phthalates. Despite the belief that exposure to these new chemicals was safe, there has never been a comprehensive scientific assessment of the risks until now.

Trasande said the study calls for radical changes in the way chemicals are tested, so that action can be taken proactively to ensure safety of public health.

Funding for both studies was provided by the National Institutes of Health grant R01ES022972.

This news release was issued on behalf of Newswise(TM).