Chemicals in Household Products Dangerous for Pregnant and Infants

Mothers exposed to certain chemicals found in household items during pregnancy can put the baby at a higher risk of gaining unnecessary weight later, a new study says.

The study was published in the Environmental Health Perspectives. It found that babies who are highly exposed to polyfluoroalkyl compounds (PFCs), a chemical commonly used in the protective coating of packaging products, clothes, furniture and nonstick cookware, while in the womb, are small at birth and become larger than normal by the age of two years.

Michele Marcus and colleagues observed 447 British girls and their mothers who were part of the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children.

Three kinds of PFCs were analyzed by the researchers - perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFS), perfluorooctanoate (PFOA) and perfluorohexane sulfonate (PFHxS).

The level of these chemicals in the mother was tested during pregnancy. The weight and length of the girls at birth, at 2, 9 and 20 months were recorded.

Researchers found that children who were highly exposed to these chemicals while in the womb were smaller than the average size at birth, at the 43^rd percentile; and gained unnecessary weight, weighing above average, at the 58th percentile, by 20 months of age.

The findings bring concern, as these children can become obese when they grow up, the researchers said.

"Previous animal and human research suggests prenatal exposures to PFCs may have harmful effects on fetal and postnatal growth," lead researcher Dr. Michele Marcus, professor of epidemiology at Emory's Rollins School of Public Health, said in a statement. "Our findings are consistent with these studies and emerging evidence that chemicals in our environment are contributing to obesity and diabetes and demonstrate that this trajectory is set very early in life for those exposed."

This is not the first study that looks at the negative impact of chemicals found in some products. According to a study conducted by the European Environment Agency (EEA), the endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) or the chemicals that disrupt the hormone system found in common household products and cosmetics may be playing a major role in the increased cases of breast cancer, infertility, obesity and diabetes.