Phthalates & Genitals
Posted: Sat May 28, 2005 6:22 pm
Study maps harm to male genitalia
Pregnant women exposed to certain common chemicals have baby boys with smaller genitals, a new study says.
BY SETH BORENSTEIN
WASHINGTON Baby boys are far more likely to have smaller, less developed genitals if their mothers had high levels of chemicals commonly found in cosmetics, detergents, medicines and plastics, a study released today said.
The higher the levels of the chemical compound phthalates in the mothers during the final months of pregnancy, the less masculine their boys were when examined by pediatricians, said the study's lead author, Shanna Swan, a professor of reproductive epidemiology at the University of Rochester.
''We were able to show, even with a relatively small sample, that phthalate-exposed boys have an increased likelihood of a cluster of genital changes,'' Swan said Thursday.
MANIFESTATIONS
The infant sons of the high phthalate-level women had more instances of smaller penises and scrota and not properly descended testicles, according to the study published in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives.
Boys born to highly exposed women were four to 10 times more likely to have reduced genital development.
Scientists are concerned that these boys might go into puberty late, be infertile and contract testicular cancer because that is what rats with similar reduced anogenital distances showed, said Earl Gray, a senior research biologist at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
The mothers in the federally funded study -- including those with high phthalate levels -- showed similar levels in the range and amounts of the chemicals as the average American, judging by previous Centers for Disease Control and Prevention studies, said study coauthor Antonia Calafat, the CDC's lead research chemist.
Phthalates are used as plasticizers, solvents, coatings and perfume fixatives. They are in hundreds of products, including food packaging, coatings on time-release medicines, soap, shampoo, nail polish, hair sprays, detergents and vinyl floor coverings.
The European Union has restricted the use of some phthalates because of similar findings in rat studies. Legislatures in California and New York are also looking into limited bans.
NO STRONG EVIDENCE
Earlier this month, the Food and Drug Administration said the agency does not now have ``compelling evidence that phthalates, as used in cosmetics, pose a safety risk.''
Marian Stanley, a senior director of the American Chemistry Council and spokeswoman for a group of companies that use phthalates, said it was too hard to come to any conclusion from the Swan study, especially since it involved a small population sample.
Numerous rodent studies found smaller genitals in phthalate-exposed males, but Swan's study is the first to look for the problem in humans.
The study, conducted in Minneapolis-St. Paul, Columbia, Mo., and Los Angeles, examined 85 infant boys and used urine samples taken from their mothers during the final few months of pregnancy.
The National Institutes of Health and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency paid for the study.
The Miami Herald
Friday, May. 27, 2005
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/li ... 751275.htm
Pregnant women exposed to certain common chemicals have baby boys with smaller genitals, a new study says.
BY SETH BORENSTEIN
WASHINGTON Baby boys are far more likely to have smaller, less developed genitals if their mothers had high levels of chemicals commonly found in cosmetics, detergents, medicines and plastics, a study released today said.
The higher the levels of the chemical compound phthalates in the mothers during the final months of pregnancy, the less masculine their boys were when examined by pediatricians, said the study's lead author, Shanna Swan, a professor of reproductive epidemiology at the University of Rochester.
''We were able to show, even with a relatively small sample, that phthalate-exposed boys have an increased likelihood of a cluster of genital changes,'' Swan said Thursday.
MANIFESTATIONS
The infant sons of the high phthalate-level women had more instances of smaller penises and scrota and not properly descended testicles, according to the study published in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives.
Boys born to highly exposed women were four to 10 times more likely to have reduced genital development.
Scientists are concerned that these boys might go into puberty late, be infertile and contract testicular cancer because that is what rats with similar reduced anogenital distances showed, said Earl Gray, a senior research biologist at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
The mothers in the federally funded study -- including those with high phthalate levels -- showed similar levels in the range and amounts of the chemicals as the average American, judging by previous Centers for Disease Control and Prevention studies, said study coauthor Antonia Calafat, the CDC's lead research chemist.
Phthalates are used as plasticizers, solvents, coatings and perfume fixatives. They are in hundreds of products, including food packaging, coatings on time-release medicines, soap, shampoo, nail polish, hair sprays, detergents and vinyl floor coverings.
The European Union has restricted the use of some phthalates because of similar findings in rat studies. Legislatures in California and New York are also looking into limited bans.
NO STRONG EVIDENCE
Earlier this month, the Food and Drug Administration said the agency does not now have ``compelling evidence that phthalates, as used in cosmetics, pose a safety risk.''
Marian Stanley, a senior director of the American Chemistry Council and spokeswoman for a group of companies that use phthalates, said it was too hard to come to any conclusion from the Swan study, especially since it involved a small population sample.
Numerous rodent studies found smaller genitals in phthalate-exposed males, but Swan's study is the first to look for the problem in humans.
The study, conducted in Minneapolis-St. Paul, Columbia, Mo., and Los Angeles, examined 85 infant boys and used urine samples taken from their mothers during the final few months of pregnancy.
The National Institutes of Health and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency paid for the study.
The Miami Herald
Friday, May. 27, 2005
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/li ... 751275.htm
