A study has reportedly found that Americans who consumed more restaurant, fast-food and cafeteria meals had phthalate levels up to 35 percent higher than those who ate out less frequently. Julia R. Varshavsky, et al., “Dietary sources of cumulative phthalate exposure among the U.S. general population in NHANES 2005-2014,” Environment International, March 29, 2018. The data was collected from more than 10,000 participants in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. While the researchers reportedly found a significant association between eating out and higher phthalate levels across all age groups, teenagers apparently showed the highest association, with 55 percent. A previous study purportedly found that participants who ate the highest amount of fast food had phthalate levels as much as 40 percent higher than participants who rarely ate such foods.
Tag Archives phthalate
Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) has sent a letter to Scott Gottlieb, commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), calling for an investigation into the use of phthalates in food and fast-food packaging. Citing a Journal of American Medicine Association Pediatrics report, Schumer argues that the health risks of phthalates are known but FDA has done little to protect the public. “Consumers are not giving these everyday packaging products a second thought,” Schumer said in a July 30, 2017, press release. “They assume they are safe—and they should be, especially when their reach extends to millions upon millions of Americans. So, the FDA must take my order for a fast food packaging investigation very seriously and take this long-sitting health data off the backburner.” Issue 643
A study has allegedly linked fast-food consumption to higher urinary phthalate-metabolite levels but not to increased bisphenol A (BPA) levels. Ami Zota, et al., “Recent Fast Food Consumption and Bisphenol A and Phthalates Exposures among the U.S. Population in NHANES, 2003–2010,” Environmental Health Perspectives, April 2016. Using 24-hour dietary recall data obtained from 8,877 participants from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES 2003- 2010), researchers with George Washington University’s Milken Institute School of Public Health apparently “observed evidence of a positive, dose-response relationship between fast food intake and exposure to phthalates.” The study authors report that, compared to participants who did not consume fast food, those who received more than 34 percent of their total energy intake from fast food had 23.8 percent and 39 percent higher levels of metabolites of di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (ΣDEHPm) and diisononyl phthalate (DiNPm), respectively. In particular, the data suggested that (i) “fast food-derived…
A recent study has claimed that children born to women whose urinary phthalate levels during pregnancy were in the top quartile of their study cohort had lower intelligence-quotient (IQ) test scores at age 7 than their peers born to women in the quartile with the lowest exposure. Pam Factor-Litvak, et al., “Persistent Associations between Maternal Prenatal Exposure to Phthalates on Child IQ at Age 7 Years,” PLoS ONE, December 2014. According to Columbia University researchers, who analyzed data from 328 women and their 7-year-old children from the Columbia Center for Children’s Environmental Health (CCCEH) longitudinal birth cohort, “child full-scale IQ was inversely associated with prenatal urinary metabolite concentrations of DnBP [di-n-butyl phthalate] and DiBP [di-isobutyl phthalate].” Using the fourth edition Weschler Intelligence Scale for Children, the study purportedly found “significant inverse associations… between maternal prenatal metabolite concentrations of DnBP and DiBP and child processing speed, perceptual reasoning and working memory;…
A new study has purportedly found that “urinary phthalate metabolites were associated with increased oxidative stress biomarkers” in a population of 482 pregnant women. Kelly Ferguson, et al., “Urinary Phthalate Metabolites and Biomarkers of Oxidative Stress in Pregnant Women: A Repeated Measures Analysis,” Environmental Health Perspectives, November 2014. In addition to measuring nine phthalate metabolites at 10, 18, 26, and 35 weeks gestation as well as delivery, researchers with the University of Michigan and Harvard Medical School analyzed urinary levels of 8-hydroxydeoxyguanosine (8- OHdG) and 8-isoprostane as biomarkers of oxidative stress. According to the results, “all phthalate metabolites were associated with higher concentrations of both biomarkers,” with mono-benzyl phthalate (MBzP), mono-n-butyl phthalate (MBP), and mono-isobutyl phthalate (MiBP) showing the strongest association with both outcome measures. “Increases in oxidative stress biomarkers in pregnant women have been associated with pregnancy loss, preeclampsia, preterm birth, and fetal growth restriction,” note the study’s authors. “These…
The Environment Protection Agency (EPA) has updated its Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) Work Plan for Chemical Assessments to include bisphenol A (BPA), seven phthalates and 15 other substances. Designed to help the Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics identify chemicals with “the highest potential for exposure and hazard,” the TSCA Work Plan in 2012 flagged 83 chemicals as part of an ongoing initiative to expedite assessments for substances believed to have reproductive, developmental or neurotoxic effects, as well as those that are “probable or known carcinogens” or “persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic.” The plan also targets substances used in children’s products and those that have been detected in biomonitoring programs. This latest update to the TSCA Work Plan removes 15 chemicals and adds 23 new ones, bringing the total list to 90 chemicals. In addition to BPA, the chemicals added to the updated list include dibutyl phthalate, butyl benzyl phthalate, di-(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate, di-n-octyl…
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has published preliminary materials for the Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS) toxicological review of diisononyl phthalate (DINP), a plasticizer used in food-contact materials.Slated for discussion at the IRIS Bimonthly Public Science Meeting to be held October 29-30, 2014, in Arlington, Virginia, the preliminary materials include (i) “a planning and scoping summary,” (ii) “information on the approaches used to identify pertinent literature,” (iii) “results of the literature search,” (iv) “approaches for selection of studies for hazard identification,” (v) “presentation of critical studies in evidence tables and exposure-response arrays,” and (vi) “mechanistic information for DINP.” In addition to feedback on these general topics, EPA has specifically requested public comment and discussion on “DINP-induced liver effects, including spongiosis hepatis”; “the evidence for DINP-induced male reproductive toxicity; “the relevance of the xenograft and ex-vivo tissue studies”; the human relevance of animal studies associating mononuclear cell leukemia with DINP…
The Danish Ministry of the Environment has stated that the government intends to pressure the European Commission to phase out certain phthalates—including BBP, DEHP, DBP, and DIBP, which are used to soften plastics such as food containers—after the European Court of Justice found that Denmark’s proposed ban on them conflicts with EU regulations. Environment Minister Kirsten Brosbøl said, “I’m putting pressure on the Commission to speed up assessment and regulation of these substances in the EU. I haven’t given up on the ban or other regulation on phthalates, and therefore I’ve asked the Danish EPA to look into whether there is a new basis for Danish phthalate regulations, if the assessment by the European Chemicals Agency does not result in common EU regulations.” According to Brosbøl, the ministry will step up efforts to educate consumers “about products containing harmful chemistry and increase the use of the Nordic Ecolabel on products…
Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) has issued the first phase of its Australian Total Diet Study (ATDS), which analyzed chemicals in Australian foods and beverages and concludes that acrylamide and aluminum levels are lower than or consistent with those found in similar foods in other countries. Still, FSANZ CEO Steve McCutcheon said that it was working with industry “to look at ways to reduce acrylamide levels in food, such as encouraging industry to use enzymes that reduce acrylamide formation.” Aluminum levels, which are at their highest levels in cakes, pikelets and pancakes, evidently showed “a slight exceedance for 2-5 year old high consumers.” According to FSANZ, this exceedance is unlikely to “represent a public health and safety issue—however, FSANZ is investigating whether the current permissions for aluminum-containing food additives are still appropriate.” The second ATDS phase will focus on chemicals such as bisphenol A, phthalates and perfluorinated compounds. See…
California EPA’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) has issued an updated table of available hazard identification documents or materials for chemicals considered or reconsidered for listing by the state’s qualified experts—that is, the Carcinogen Identification Committee and Developmental and Reproductive Toxicant Identification Committee—from 1996 to April 2014. The table contains links to materials on chemicals such as Bisphenol A, phthalates, MTBE, and sodium saccharin, and indicates when they were listed or de-listed. Issue 522
