Chemicals in plastics elevate BP in kids

A new study has shown that certain types of plastic additives known as phthalates could pose as a threat for children’s heart health.
Phthalates which were once considered to be harmless have now come under major scrutiny due to this reason. Evidence suggests that dietary exposure to this variety of plastic additives has the ability to cause significant metabolic and hormonal abnormalities. This may happen especially during early development. The researchers from NYU Langone Medical Center in collaboration with researchers at the University of Washington and Penn State University School of Medicine drew data from representative survey of nearly 3000 children and teens. They documented for the first time a connection between dietary exposures to DEHP (di-2-ethyhexylphthalate), which is a common class of phthalate widely used in industrial food production. Phthalates can leech from the packaging and mix with your food.

"Phthalates can inhibit the function of cardiac cells and cause oxidativestress that compromises the health of arteries. But no one has explored the relationship between phthalate exposure and heart health in children" said lead author Leonardo Trasande, MD, MPP, associate professor of pediatrics, environmental medicine and population health at NYU Langone Medical Center.

"We wanted to examine the link between phthalates and childhood blood pressure in particular given the increase in elevated blood pressure in children and the increasing evidence implicating exposure to environmental exposures in early development of disease," he added.

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