US scientists have detected 55 chemicals in the blood of pregnant women and their children, which have never been detected in humans before and are related to plastics and cosmetics – along with 42 ‘mysterious’ compounds
- Scientists have discovered 96 unique and strange chemicals in pregnant women
- The team found chemicals in their blood and in newborn babies
- This suggests that chemicals are traveling to the baby through the placenta
- Approximately 55 chemicals have never been reported in the human body
- The other 42 have no origin or use – but experts say they come from products
- This includes plastics, cosmetics and even building material
The scientists detected 109 chemicals during a study of 30 pregnant women, including 55 never seen in humans and 42 ‘mysterious chemicals’ with no known sources or uses.
All 96 chemicals are also believed to have been in the body for a long time, but have only now been detected through the use of high-resolution spectrometry – a technology that has only become accessible in the past decade.
A team from the University of California at San Francisco (UCSF) looked at the chemicals in the blood of women and also in their newborn children, suggesting that they are traveling through the mother’s placenta.
Although the chemicals are unknown, the researchers suspect that they probably came from consumer products, such as cosmetics and plastics.
The scientists detected 109 chemicals during a study of pregnant women, including 55 never seen in humans and 42 ‘mysterious chemicals’ with no known sources or uses. Scientists observed the chemicals in the blood of women, as well as in their newborn children
High resolution spectrometry (HRMS) was first developed about 50 years ago, but it was only in the last 10 years that it became accessible to the scientific community.
This powerful tool is capable of analyzing dissolved organic matter, hitting it with a beam of light that shines through a sample and breaks it into different pieces based on the particles, reports Popular Mechanics.
And each chemical and compound element in the sample produces its own signature, allowing scientists to determine them individually.
The UCSF team collected 60 blood samples from 30 different pregnant women, along with 30 samples from their umbilical cords.
The UCSF team collected 60 blood samples from 30 different pregnant women, along with 30 samples of their umbilical cords (photo)
Through HRMS, the analysis revealed 662 chemical signatures when hit with positive ions and 788 with negative ions.
The researchers then combined similar samples, classified them and identified 109 unique results – many of which were derived from different consumer products.
Approximately 40 are used as plasticizers, 28 in cosmetics, 25 in consumer products, 29 as pharmaceuticals, 23 as pesticides and three as flame retardants.
The team also identified seven PFAS compounds that, according to the EPA, are a group of synthetic chemicals’ that have been ‘manufactured and used in a variety of industries around the world, including in the United States, since the 1940s’ .
These compounds are used mainly in carpets and upholstery, among other construction-like tasks.
Plasticizers, according to the study, probably came from food packaging and plastic utensils, in addition to household appliances.
Approximately 40 are used as plasticizers (including plastic food packaging), 28 in cosmetics, 25 in consumer products, 29 as pharmaceuticals, 23 as pesticides and three as flame retardants
Tracey J. Woodruff, PhD, professor of obstetrics, gynecology and reproductive sciences at UCSF, said: ‘These chemicals have probably been in people for some time, but our technology is now helping us to identify more of them.
“It is very worrying that we cannot identify the uses or sources of so many of these chemicals.”
‘The EPA must do a better job of requiring the chemical industry to standardize its reports on chemical compounds and uses.
“And they need to use their authority to ensure that we have adequate information to assess potential health damage and remove chemicals from the market that pose a risk.”