Chemicals in food packaging are more dangerous than we could imagine: getting into the body of pregnant women, they can cause mental retardation in their unborn children, scientists from the Karlstad University/Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, Sweden, found out.
According to a press release on EurekAlert!, the above scientists conducted a study involving 718 women in the first trimester of pregnancy. Specialists measured 26 chemicals in the blood and urine samples of these women, including bisphenol A (found in plastic containers and ingested from them), pesticides, phthalates and other chemicals. Previous studies have already shown that some of the substances, such as bisphenol, disrupt endocrine activity in humans.
Observations of children born to the study participants showed that a high content of the above chemicals in the blood of mothers during pregnancy contributed to a lower intelligence coefficient in children aged 7. Moreover, the lowest rates were recorded in boys.
The most negative effect on the development of the brain and the intellect of children was exerted by bisphenol. But other chemicals, including pesticide chlorpyrifos, polyfluoroalkyls (found in cleaning products), triclosan in antibacterial soaps, and phthalates, which are present in soft PVC and plastics and cosmetics, have raised concerns.
Follow NEWS.am Medicine on Facebook and Twitter