Statement

Low-Birth Weight Studies Come to Contradictory Conclusions

ARLINGTON, VA (June  25, 2009) – The American Chemistry Council (ACC) today responded  to a study conducted by Zhang et al., in China, published in the Journal of Pediatrics, that reports low birth weight in infants statistically correlated with phthalate exposure at birth.  Importantly, the authors of the Chinese study are cautious about their conclusions.  The report states that phthalate exposure “may be” a risk factor in low birth weight, and advises that the study “has some limitations.”

ACC Managing Director, Chris Bryant, issued the following statement:

“Isolating a single cause from the host of influences that determine the birth weight of an infant is a daunting challenge for any scientist, and no responsible scientist would claim to have found an answer with a single study.  One of the authors of the Chinese study stated that phthalates ‘might be’ associated with low birth weight, a proper caution considering that there have been several recent studies that appear to contradict these findings.  A study by Wolff et al. (2009) in Environmental Health Perspectives (EHP) and a study published in Human and Ecological Risk Assessment report no change in birth weight or other outcomes associated with phthalate exposure even though phthalate levels were unusually high.  

“Phthalates are among the most thoroughly studied families of compounds in the world and have a long history of safe use.  Phthalates do not migrate out of products easily.  Also, they do not build up in the body. Phthalates begin to breakdown within minutes and are quickly metabolized.”

Learn more about phthalates.