Plastics in pregnancy
We have known that we are exposed to plastics from our diet, cosmetics and environment for a while the consequences of this for health is still largely being studied, the evidence of harm is starting to mount up.
One class of synthetic chemicals, phthalates, which are used in personal care products and food packaging, induce inflammation and oxidative stress, and are endocrine disruptors, with varying degrees of estrogenic and anti-androgenic effects. Moreover, these pathways interact; inflammation can influence hormonal regulation.
Previous studies have suggested that exposure to these chemicals in the womb can have long lasting effects on the cardiometabolic health of the child. Another has identified plastics in the disease that causes heart attacks and strokes (atherosclerosis) and and increased risk of serious consequences from the disease.
A new study published in February in the Lancet has shown that mother’s who have a higher exposure to phthalates have a higher risk of pre-term birth. Inflammation and oxidative stress can induce endothelial activation common in pre-clampsia, and oxidative stress can induce placental insufficiency as well as pre-clampsia and premature rupture of membranes.
So how can women protect both themselves and their fetus from exposure to high levels of plastics?
Eat organic food
Avoidance of plastics by using glass or stainless-steel bottles and containers, and cardboard rather than plastic packaging (or no packaging at all), and avoidance of plastic utensils and non-stick pans in the kitchen
Avoidance of canned food and beverages
Avoidance of fast food
Iodine supplementation
Vegetarian diet
Fatty fish diet
Alteration of personal care products
References
Philips EM, Jaddoe VWV, Trasande L. Effects of early exposure to phthalates and bisphenols on cardiometabolic outcomes in pregnancy and childhood. Reprod Toxicol. 2017 Mar;68:105-118. doi: 10.1016/j.reprotox.2016.08.015. Epub 2016 Sep 3. PMID: 27596818; PMCID: PMC5336527.
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Trasande L, Nelson ME, Alshawabkeh A, Barrett ES, Buckley JP, Dabelea D, Dunlop AL, Herbstman JB, Meeker JD, Naidu M, Newschaffer C, Padula AM, Romano ME, Ruden DM, Sathyanarayana S, Schantz SL, Starling AP, Hamra GB; programme collaborators for Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes. Prenatal phthalate exposure and adverse birth outcomes in the USA: a prospective analysis of births and estimates of attributable burden and costs. Lancet Planet Health. 2024 Feb;8(2):e74-e85. doi: 10.1016/S2542-5196(23)00270-X. PMID: 38331533.
Corbett GA, Lee S, Woodruff TJ, Hanson M, Hod M, Charlesworth AM, Giudice L, Conry J, McAuliffe FM; International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) Committee on Impact of Pregnancy on Long-term Health and the FIGO Committee on Climate Change and Toxic Environmental Exposures. Nutritional interventions to ameliorate the effect of endocrine disruptors on human reproductive health: A semi-structured review from FIGO. Int J Gynaecol Obstet. 2022 Jun;157(3):489-501. doi: 10.1002/ijgo.14126. Epub 2022 Feb 23. PMID: 35122246; PMCID: PMC9305939.