What we know about phthalate in plastic and heart disease

The latest

The news made an alarming heading this week: Studies showed that frequent chemicals in plastics were associated with 350,000 deaths for heart disease in 2018.

The statistics come from a study published on Monday in the magazine Ebiomedicine. The authors, a group of researchers from the Grossman School of Medicine at New York University, estimated that about 13 percent of cardiovascular death from 55- to 64-year-olds worldwide could be attributed this year that are used in food packaging, shampoo, toys and more.

Studies on the effects of phthalates on the heart cycle -but their connection to metabolic risk factors such as obesity indicate that they could play a role in heart diseases.

While experts agree that phthalates are harmful, she warned that the study was based on complex statistical modeling and a number of assumptions and estimates that make it difficult to determine how many deaths could be associated with the chemicals.

“This is an early step to understand the problem of the problem,” said Dr. Mark Huffman, cardiologist and co-director of the Global Health Center in Washu Medicine in St. Louis. However, he added that far more studies are necessary to understand the relationship between phthalates and heart health and which other factors may come into play.

The background

Phthalates can be found in personal care products such as shampoos and lotions as well as in food containers and packaging. It is possible to absorb them through food, absorb them through the skin of products they contain or inhale them as a dust.

Studies have shown that phthalate are endocrine interferers, which means that they can interfere with our hormones. They were associated with negative effects on reproductive health, pregnancy and birth.

Some studies have shown a connection between phthalates and cardiovascular diseases, but there are strong indications that the chemicals directly cause heart problems, said Sung Kyun Park, professor of epidemiology and environmental sciences at the University of Michigan School of Public Health.

There is indications that phthalates increase the risk of metabolic disorders such as obesity and type -2 diabetes, which can cause cardiovascular diseases.

One possibility of how Phthalate can do this is to increase oxidative stress – cell and tissue damage, which occurs when there are too many unstable molecules in the body – and by promoting inflammation, said Dr. Leonardo Trasande, senior author of the new paper and professor of pediatrics and population health at NYU

Research

In the latest study, the researchers tried to quantify global cardiovascular deaths specifically on a kind of phthalate known as the DEHP. DEHP of one of the most frequently used and examined phthalates can be found in vinyl products such as tablecloths, shower curtains and floors.

The researchers were based on estimates from previous examinations for various measures: phthalate exposure, the risk of such exposure to cardiovascular deaths and the global stress on cardiovascular diseases. Then they calculated the proportion of deaths that can be attributed to Phthalat exposures in different countries, said Dr. Trasande. The Middle East, South Asia, East Asia and the Pacific made up almost three quarters of these deaths.

The restrictions

This was an observation study that showed a correlation between the estimated exposure to chemical and illness at the population level. Experts said that the methods used for studies that model global diseases were not unusual, but that such studies are associated with reservations.

For example, said Dr. Huffman, the estimates from the literature to which the authors would have risen in their calculations, have even included some distortions or confusing variables such as socio -economic status or nutritional behavior, which could relate both to the exposure of plastic and cardiovascular disease rates.

“A rather important part of the result of the model is what you insert into the model,” said Dr. Huffman.

The study was also based on an earlier analysis by Dr. Trasande to estimate the risk of cardiovascular death by phthalate exposure after the control of other known risk factors. In this paper, however, only US patients were examined, which means that it may not be possible to generalize the results to a world population in which nutritional habits, cigarette cubes, physical activity and other cardiovascular risk factors can vary.

What’s next

The study shows that experts said that we need more research on the exposure of Phthalat and the associated health risks. Although it would be ethically impossible and impractical to carry out a classic randomized study in which a group of people were exposed to Phthalaten and others and they were pursued for many years, other types of studies were able to clearly contribute to connecting.

A way, said Dr. Park would be that researchers hire a large representative sample of patients, measure their level of exposure and follow them for years, perhaps until death. Dr. Huffman suggested that it would also be worth trying strategies that reduce the level of exposure and then measure all changes to the health results.

Tracey Woodruff, director of the program for reproductive health and environment at the University of California, San Francisco, said that despite the uncertainties in the estimates of the current paper, it is clear that Phthalate can increase the risks of premature birth, reproductive problems and metabolic disorders. For them, the results only contribute to the list of reasons to reduce the number of phthalates in the supply chain.