Scientists at the University of California, San Francisco have found 109 chemicals in a study of pregnant women, including 55 previously undisclosed chemicals and 42 “secret chemicals” whose sources and uses are unknown.
Probably the chemicals come from consumer products or other industrial sources. They were found both in the blood of pregnant women, as well as their newborns, indicating that they were traveling from the mother’s placenta.
The study was published on March 16, 2021 Environmental science and technology.
Tracy J. Professor of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences at UCSF. “These chemicals may have been in people for a long time, but our technology is now helping us identify more of them,” Woodruff said.
Woodruff, a former U.S. environmental protection agency scientist, directs both the Center for Reproductive Health and the Environment (PRHE) and the Center for Environmental Research and Translation (EARTH) at UCSF.
“It’s worrying that we’re seeing some chemicals going from pregnant women to their babies, which means these chemicals may be with us as well.”
The scientific team used high-resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS) to identify man-made chemicals in humans.
But, while these chemicals can be temporarily identified using chemical libraries, they need to be confirmed by comparing them with refined chemicals produced by manufacturers known as “analytical standards”. And manufacturers don’t always make this available.
Recently, for example, the chemical manufacturer Sulway stopped providing chemical standard for a perfluoroctenoic. Acid (PFAS) compound that has emerged as a phased replacement of PFAS compounds. Researchers are using this chemical standard to evaluate the presence and toxicity of replacement PFAS.
“These new technologies promise to enable us to identify more chemicals in people, but our study findings also make it clear that chemical manufacturers need to provide analytical standards so that we can confirm the presence of chemicals and evaluate their toxicity.” Author Dmitry Panagopoulos Abrahamson, PhD, Post Doctoral Fellow with PRSE of UCSF.
The 109 chemicals found in the blood samples of pregnant women and their newborns are found by researchers in many different types of products. For example, there are 40 plasticizers, 28 cosmetics, 25 consumer products, 29 pharmaceuticals, 23 disinfectants, three flame retardants, and seven PFAS compounds used in carpeting, seat cushions, and other applications. Researchers say that other uses of all these chemicals are also possible.
Researchers report that they have temporarily identified 109 chemicals that have not been reported in previous ones:
- 1 is used as a disinfectant (BS (2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidini-4-y) decanedioate)
- 2 is PFAS (used in the manufacture of methyl perfuler onde ndecanoate, mostly non-stick cookware and waterproof fabrics; 2-perfluorodisyl ethanoic acid)
- 10 used as plasticizers (eg Sumilizer GA 80 – used in food packaging, paper plates, small appliances)
- 2 is used in cosmetics
- 4 are high production volume (HPV) chemicals
- 37 have little information about their source or uses (e.g., 1- (1-acetyl-2,2,6,6-tetramethylpyridine-4-yil) -3-dodecilipirolidine-2,5-dione, which smells Used to make and paints – this chemical is so little known that there is currently no short name – and (2R0-7-hydroxy-8- (2-hydroxyethyl) -5-methoxy-2-, 3-dihydrochrome omen no-4 (Acronym: LL -D-253alpha), for which no information about its use or source is limited.
“It’s so relevant that we’re unable to identify the sources or uses of so many chemicals,” Woodruff said. “The EPA must do a better job for the chemical industry’s need to standardize its reporting of chemical compounds and uses. And they need to exercise their authority to ensure we have enough information to assess potential health harm and remove risk-causing chemicals from the market. ”
References: Susp Olin Wang, Dimitri Panagoplos Abrahamson, Ting Jiang, Miaomiao Wang, Rachel Morelo-Frosh, Jun-Soo Park, Marina Sirota and Tracy in the mother-newborn pair from San Francisco. Woodruff, March 16, 2021, Environmental science and technology.
DOI: 10.1021 / acs.est.0c05984
Authors: The study included Ol Olin Wang and Marina Sirota of the UCSF linking Woodruff and Panagoplos Abrahamson; Ting Jiang, Miami Wang and Jun-Soo Park of the California Environmental Protection Agency; And Rachel Morelo-Frosh of UC Berkeley.
Funding: The study was funded by NIH / NIEHS grant numbers P30- 870 ES030284, UG3OD023272, UH3OD023272, P01ES022841, 871 R01ES027051 and US EPA grant number 872 RD83543301.
