Pregnant Women In The U.S. Are Being Exposed To Carcinogenic Chemicals Found In Everyday Products That Can Also Impact Child Development, New Study Finds
Pregnant women residing in the U.S. are being exposed to toxic chemicals such as cyanuric acid, melamine, and aromatic amines that can raise the risk of cancer and impede child development.
These findings and more were recently revealed in a new study conducted by researchers at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and UC San Francisco.
From 2008 to 2020, the researchers analyzed the presence of forty-five chemicals associated with cancer and other risk factors in the urine of a diverse group of one hundred and seventy-one pregnant women.
The women are a part of the National Institute of Health’s Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO).
The women hailed from New York, California, Georgia, Illinois, Puerto Rico, and New Hampshire.
Thirty-four percent of the women were white, forty percent were Latina, twenty percent were Black, four percent were Asian, and the remaining three percent were from other or multiple racial groups.
And unfortunately, the study found melamine, cyanuric acid presence, and four aromatic amines in nearly all of the women’s urine samples.
Exposure to these chemicals can occur in a variety of ways– by inhaling contaminated air, ingesting contaminated food and water, or by using products containing dyes, pigments, and plastic.
And not only can it harm maternal health but also the development of fetuses.
annanahabed – stock.adobe.com – illustrative purpose only, not the actual person
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“These chemicals are of serious concern due to their links to cancer and developmental toxicity, yet they are not routinely monitored in the United States,” explained Tracey J. Woodruff, a co-senior author of the study.
For example, after melamine baby formula poisoning incidents occurred in 2004, 2007, and 2008 that resulted in kidney stones and numerous deaths, melamine was later recognized as a kidney toxicant. More recent research has also found melamine to reduce brain function.
Additionally, exposure to these chemicals together only boosts their toxicity. Melamine is found in pesticides, dishware, plastics, and flooring; meanwhile, cyanuric acid is used as a plastic stabilizer, disinfectant, and swimming pool cleaning solvent.
Finally, aromatic amines are commonly found in tobacco smoke, paint, tattoo ink, mascara, hair dye, and diesel exhaust. What is even more disheartening is that women of color were found to be disproportionately exposed to the highest chemical levels.
“It is disconcerting that we continue to find higher levels of many of these harmful chemicals in people of color,” said Jessie Buckley, the study’s co-senior author.
And now, the researchers have underscored that regulatory action is needed to limit both mothers’ and babies’ exposure to known carcinogens and potential developmental toxins.
To read the study’s complete findings, which have since been published in Science Direct, you can visit the link here.
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