NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Pregnant women who are exposed to higher levels of an increasingly controversial chemical in certain plastics may deliver their babies slightly earlier than women with less exposure, results of a study hint.
"The magnitude of the effects seen," the study team wrote in today's issue of Pediatrics, "might be associated with adverse health effects in newborns."The chemical, DEHP -- short for di(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate -- is a "plasticizer" used widely in consumer products to help make vinyl plastic soft and flexible.
"Exposures (to DEHP) are ubiquitous," Dr. Robin M. Whyatt from Columbia Center for Children's Environmental Health in New York City told Reuters Health. DEHP breakdown products "have been detected in 95% of the general U.S. population."
By Megan Brooks Copyright © 2009 ABC News
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