--- title: "A Chemical in Plastic Is Wreaking Havoc on Unborn Children, Scientists Warn" description: "Dubbed \"everywhere chemicals,\" the flexibility-inducing compounds known as phthalates are a massive cause for prenatal concern." date: "2025-09-07" modified: "2025-09-07" authors: - name: "Noor Al-Sibai" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai" url: "https://futurism.com/neoscope/plastic-chemical-wreaking-havoc-unborn-babies" categories: - "Health & Medicine" - "Studies" tags: - "chemicals" - "phthalates" - "plastic" - "pregnancy" --- # A Chemical in Plastic Is Wreaking Havoc on Unborn Children, Scientists Warn ![Dubbed "everywhere chemicals," the flexibility-inducing compounds known as phthalates are a massive cause for prenatal concern.]() *\Image: Getty / Futurism\* Some doctors are now advising their pregnant patients to avoid plastic itself, which contains harmful chemicals that can hurt some mothers and babies alike. Marya Zlatnik, a University of California at San Francisco fetal medicine specialist, [told the *Washington Post*]() that when giving some of her early-pregnancy patients the rundown of what they should and shouldn't consume or be exposed to, she's begun adding plastic products to her no-no list. Her concern: the chemicals known as phthalates, which make plastics stronger and more flexible but also act as a hormone disruptor that has been linked to everything from [attention deficit hyperactivity disorder]() (ADHD) and [asthma]() to [obesity]() and [premature birth](), among [countless other health issues](). Unlike per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances or PFAS, another widespread and terrifying class of contaminants referred to as "[forever chemicals]()" due to their longevity, some scientists have taken to calling phthalates "[everywhere chemicals]()," because they dissipate quickly but are nonetheless constantly contaminating basically everyone on the planet thanks to massive plastic overconsumption. Phthalates are believed to be inside basically every human body on Earth, and it's not hard to see why: the Food and Drug Administration has approved [nine different types of these compounds]() for food packaging, and they invariably rub off onto what we eat and then are ingested into our bodies. While these chemicals are, as *WaPo* notes, detrimental to everyone's health, gynecologists and obstetricians are becoming increasingly worried about how they specifically affect prenatal health as a [growing body of evidence]() suggests they're [unduly dangerous]() for [pregnant women and babies](). Other scientists are also growing concerned about phthalate exposure *in utero* affecting fertility down the line, [especially in men](). "If any of these chemicals get into a woman while she's pregnant, the chemicals will go right across into the baby," explained Boston College pediatrician Philip Landrigan in an interview with the newspaper. "The placenta provides no protection at all." The results of prenatal phthalate exposure can be immediate and dramatic. In 2022, the [National Institutes of Health found](), based on a large systemic review involving more than 6,000 participants over more than three decades, that women with higher levels of phthalate byproducts in their urine were more between 12 to 16 percent likely to deliver their babies preterm, defined as least three weeks before their due dates. Speaking to *WaPo*, senior NIH investigator Kelly Ferguson said that even those initial findings, which were [published in the journal *JAMA Pediatrics*]() and led to subsequent research about related racial disparities [in the journal *Environmental Health Perspectives*](), were a pretty big deal. "Having an increase of 15 percent in preterm birth is huge for the overall population," Ferguson, who was also a senior author on the 2022 study, told *WaPo*. "There’s health consequences for children and moms, financial costs." More recently, public health researchers from Emory, Columbia, and the University of North Carolina established a link between higher phthalate levels in mothers' blood and [metabolism issues]() that were detectable at birth in their babies. As with other massive and avoidable environmental health issues, industry advocates and naysaying researchers aren't convinced that phthalates are all that bad for us, in or outside the womb. To explain away the well-documented health defects of these hormone disrupting chemicals, pediatric endocrinologist and [testicle obsessive]() Rod Mitchell of Scotland's University of Edinburgh — who was quoted by *WaPo* being very concerned about testosterone development during gestation — said he thinks phthalates might not be to blame for any prenatal problems. "We’re just constantly exposed to a soup of chemicals," he told the newspaper. A paid plastic industry shill, meanwhile, had a more entertaining form of obfuscation. Speaking on behalf of the Flexible Vinyl Alliance, representative Kevin Ott pointed to the phthalate content of things like blood bags and other medical devices as reaffirming use cases for the chemicals. "Those benefits should be weighed against the concerns with phthalates," Ott told *WaPo* in an email. **More on chemicals:** [*How Did Walmart Frozen Shrimp Become Contaminated With Radioactive Material?*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've often been drawn to unpacking the narratives that underlie technological, scientific and medical progress, with a special interest in areas of conflict and ambiguity that end up setting agendas and steering the fates of both elites and the hoi polloi. I'm a committed generalist, but I often find myself returning to work involving NASA and the private space sector, the effects of AI on media and society, and the mechanics of the pharmaceutical industry, with a specific focus on the spread of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. Prior to Futurism, I worked for publications ranging from Media Matters and Truthdig to Raw Story and Bustle. I'm also the author of "Myspace Scene Queens," a 2024 title in Instar Books' acclaimed "Remember the Internet" series. My work at Futurism has been cited by outlets including the New Yorker, Slate, Nieman Lab, the Verge, the MIT Technology Review, the Sunday Times, and the Daily Beast. I grew up in North Carolina, attended the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and now live in Brooklyn, New York. In my free time, I'm an avid reader and music fan; you can probably find me at a local poetry reading, concert, underground rave, or DJ set. I'm the proud parent of an ineffable orange cat named Mee-Mow. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()