HEALTH BRIEFS

BABIES BENEFIT, TOO

Nursing mothers who receive a Covid-19 vaccine may pass protective antibodies to their babies through breast milk for a time following vaccination, says new research from Washington University School of Medicine in the US. The small study involved five mothers who provided frozen breast-milk samples. All had received two doses of the Pfizer vaccine and the antibody boost was sustained for the three-month study’s duration, leading researchers to believe that protection likely lasts even longer.

ALTERED STATES

Exposure to phthalates, a class of chemicals widely used in packaging, is known to interfere with normal hormone function and development. Now, University of Illinois researchers have found evidence linking pregnant women’s exposure to phthalates to altered cognitive outcomes in their infants. Most of the findings involved slower information processing among infants with higher phthalate exposure levels, with males more likely to be affected, depending on the chemical involved.

CANNABIS AND CRASHES

Legalisation of recreational cannabis in some US jurisdictions may be linked to a small but significant rise in fatal car collisions. Researchers from McGill University in Canada say if the whole country legalised the drug, it could result in an extra 4843 motor-vehicle fatalities a year – an increase of 16%. They believe the rise could be countered through government regulation of THC limits for driving, and public-awareness campaigns around those limits.