Exposure to certain chemicals during pregnancy can be detrimental to the health of the mother and the fetus. However, it is very common for such contact to occur. A new study ensures that most pregnant women in the United States are exposed to chemicals.
No doubt the data could be extrapolated to a greater or lesser extent to other developed countries that follow a lifestyle similar to that of the United States. Concerned to know that some of these products are present in many utensils of daily life, but also that others that have been banned for several decades continue to appear.
It is the first time that the chemical substances to which women are exposed during pregnancy are accounted for, taking into account the risk that can lead to the health of the fetus. And the results indicate that 99% of pregnant women are exposed to chemicals, some of which could be harmful.
The research, conducted at the University of California (San Francisco, United States), has appeared in the latest issue of the journal 'Environmental Health Perspectives'. A total of 268 women participating in a national health survey (2003-4) were analyzed, detecting up to 163 different chemical substances in 99% of them.
Among these substances, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), organochlorine pesticides, perfluorinated compounds (PFCs), phenols, phthalates, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) or polybromodiphenyl ethers (PBDEs) (such as an organochlorinated pesticide that has been banned in the United States since 1972) ).
In addition, the study also analyzed the presence of bisphenol-A, which appears in many plastics and whose prenatal exposure in certain amounts has been shown to affect brain development and increase the risk of adult cancer.
Not all substances were found in dangerous quantities as to affect pregnancy, but some of them. In addition, as the authors point out,
Exposure to multiple chemicals may carry a health risk greater than that caused by a single chemical.
As they remember in their conclusions, chemicals can cross the placenta and enter the fetus. There are studies that have been able to detect these substances in urine and maternal blood, as well as in amniotic fluid or in umbilical cord blood.
We have already talked in the blog about how certain chemical compounds have been related to premature births, and there are other risks related to exposure to some harmful products.
Therefore, the researchers conclude that additional research is necessary to identify the main sources of exposure to chemicals and how they influence health.
If we must be careful with certain chemicals at any stage of our life, at any age, especially important is to determine and continue research on the danger of chemicals at a stage as important as pregnancy.
