Chemicals banned decades ago are still being found in fetal organs, according to a new study. And more concerning still, it appears that fetal exposure to the toxic chemicals is higher than that of maternal exposure to chemicals, potentially putting infants at high risk for future health problems.
Researchers from the Karolinska Institutet found that banned chemicals still pose a threat to pregnant women and their babies, given that their existence has been noted in the placenta, fetal brain, and organs of those conceived years after the chemicals were no longer in use, according to Medical Xpress.
Chemicals that remain in the environment for decades after they are no longer in production are known as persistent organic pollutants (POPs).
POPs, according to the European Chemicals Agency, pose a threat to both human life and the ecosystem overall. This is because the chemicals remain in the environment for decades after they are no longer in production. And once in the environment, they are easily spread through the air, soil, water, per the publication.
The reason that there is concern about how easily POPs are spread is that they have been linked to cancers, neurological disorders, reproductive disorders, suppression of the immune system, and other common diseases that plague humans today, according to IPEN.
The study, which was published in the journal, Chemosphere, observed the brain, heart, lungs, liver, and fetal fat of 20 babies who had passed due to stillbirth from 2015 through 2016. This was done to determine how many of the 22 most common POPs were present in the fetal tissue and organs.
What researchers found was that 15 of the 22 POPs were found in "every organ" of the fetuses, according to EurekAlert! Further still, four chemicals were also found in "all tissues" of the fetuses as well.
According to the publication, the most prevalent chemicals noted were:
- HCB: pesticide
- DDE: a "metabolite" of the insect killer DDT
- PCBs: chemicals found in electrical products
In past studies, the levels of POPs in babies were determined by taking blood samples from the baby's mother during pregnancy and by examining the placenta after birth. And while those methods of measurement did show that there were levels of POPs present in both mother and baby, what they do not show is the exposure to which the fetus has to them while developing.
According to Medical Xpress, the levels present in the fetal organs and fat tissue paint a picture that the risk is much higher for fetuses than once believed. This is because the concentration of the chemicals is much higher in all locations of the body versus that of the mother or that of the placenta.
The higher concentrations can absolutely affect how fetuses develop, putting them at a higher risk for minimally having life-long illnesses and perhaps even developing life-threatening conditions as they age.
Because of this information newly brought to light, researchers are imploring lawmakers to seriously consider banning chemicals as a class that is still in circulation that has been noted to cause health problems, due to their longevity in the environment, according to Medical Xpress. (The current standard is to ban one chemical at a time when there are health concerns present.)
Given that those who are most at risk are those who have not even made their way into the world yet, it does not seem like an unfair ask to be made.
Source: Medical Xpress, EurekAlert!, Chemosphere, European Chemicals Agency, IPEN