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American researchers from the Cancer Center of the University of Vermont have just released the conclusions of a study concerning exposure to phthalates and health risks in children. According to their research, these chemicals could increase the occurrence of certain childhood cancers.
What are phthalates?
It is not without reason that phthalates are also called the “ubiquitous chemical. These are chemicals that are widely used in many consumer and industrial products. Phthalates have interesting properties for improving the conservation and consistency of plastics. These are additives, they are therefore added to the composition of plastics to soften them.
Where are phthalates found?
They are present everywhere, especially in materials that come into contact with the food we eat. They are also found on the side of pharmaceutical companies, which use phthalates as an inactive ingredient in the manufacture of drugs. They are used to make certain anti-inflammatories and antibiotics work, the release of the active ingredient of which must be controlled over time.
Added to PVC (polyvinyl chloride), phthalates are also present in tablecloths, adhesive tapes and cosmetics. They are also found in children’s toys or in balloons.
Adverse health consequences for adults and children
Despite this increased presence, more and more studies demonstrate their deleterious effects on health and they are now recognized as endocrine disruptors. Moreover, a new scientific study that took place at the University of Vermont has just demonstrated the existence of a link between phthalates and an increase in the incidence of childhood cancers.
The team of lead researcher, Associate Professor Thomas Ahern of Lerner College of Medicine at the University of Vermont, conducted their research in collaboration with the University Hospital of Denmark. Together, they analyzed data from the universal health system of the Danish national register of all living newborns between 1997 and 2017. In total, this represents 1.3 million children.
They wanted to measure the exposure to phthalates of babies, but also of biological mothers during gestation. The researchers dissected the medical prescriptions of mothers during pregnancy as well as those of children up to the age of 19. Thus, they observed:
- Gestational exposure;
- Childhood exposure;
- Childhood cancers via the registry and associations.
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20% risk of developing cancer in children
The results, published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, indicate that 2,027 cancers were diagnosed in children exposed to phthalates during childhood (excluding pregnancy). The scientific report tells us that this “exposure to phthalates […] was associated with a 20% higher overall childhood cancer rate”.
The diagnosis of osteosarcoma, a rather aggressive bone cancer, was associated with a rate three times higher and that of lymphoma, cancer of the lymphatic system, with a rate twice as high. For Professor Ahern, “our results justify the concern“, because they “add to a growing body of evidence suggesting that these ubiquitous chemicals negatively impact human health“.
The next objective is to identify which phthalate in particular is linked to the greatest risk of the onset of cancer in children, but also to reduce these risks linked to exposure from an early age.