Plastic chemical ‘threat to babies’

A COMMON chemical found in water bottles, toys, receipts and food tins increases the risk of lung problems in children, research suggests.

A study involving 2,685 mother and child pairs found that babies exposed to high levels of the chemical BPA in the womb were born with smaller lungs – and were 13 per cent more likely to suffer from wheezing by the time they were ten years old.

BPA is used to make plastics found in food containers, cans, plastic bottles, toys and the ‘thermal’ paper used for receipts. The synthetic compound belongs to a group of chemicals – phenols – which have been shown to interfere with hormone signals in the body.

Alicia Abellan, a researcher at the Barcelona Institute for Global Health, presented the findings at the European Respiratory Society International Congress in Madrid.

She said: ‘When babies are still in the womb, they are especially vulnerable to these substances... their respiratory and immune systems are still developing. Currently, there is no general consensus regarding a safe level of exposure to phenols, but recently the EU general court classified BPA among the list of “very high concern” chemicals.’

The mothers and children studied were already taking part in one of eight large European research projects. Researchers recorded mothers’ exposure to BPA from urine samples taken while they were pregnant, and found that 79 per cent of the women showed detectable levels of BPA.

The children’s lung functions were measured when they were between six and ten years old, and signs of wheezing recorded.