New ‘high safety’ chemicals in plastic food packaging linked to lower birth weight, study finds

Dinch, an allegedly ‘safe’ alternative, used in the EU and US also found to cause fetal development complications

Exposure to a new generation of allegedly “safe” plasticizers is linked to lower birth weight and fetal development complications, which could cause serious health problems later in life, a new peer-reviewed study found.

As the health risks in exposure to common phthalate plasticizers became clear over the last few decades, industry began switching to a new type of chemical, called Dinch, that it claimed was a “high safety”, nontoxic alternative. It is widely used in soft plastic food packaging in the United States and European Union, and is found in children’s toys, medical devices, some textiles, flooring and other consumer goods.

But it may not be as safe as industry has claimed, the New York University Langone Health analysis of federal US health data suggests. There is a dearth of research into Dinch health risks, though what exists points toward the chemicals being hormone disruptors that can impact kids’ development.

The new paper is the first to link Dinch to lower birth weights and birth lengths. Fetal growth problems can raise the risk for heart disease, learning difficulties, obesity and other issues that can echo into adolescence and adulthood, the authors wrote.

“Chemicals should be properly tested for their safety before they become a widespread exposure for unwitting people in the general public,” said Leonardo Trasande, a lead author on the NYU paper.

The chemical is formally named 1,2-cyclohexane dicarboxylic acid diisononyl ester. It is used to make plastic more flexible and durable, and is found in common kitchen products such as cling film and plastic wine corks.

Researchers looked at data for over 6,600 pregnancies collected as part of the National Institutes of Health Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes (Echo) Program. Up to 70% of women showed Dinch in their urine, and higher levels increased the risk of the child being classified as “small for gestational age”, or below the 10th percentile for babies born at the same stage of pregnancy.

Each tenfold increase in Dinch exposure resulted in a 27-gram reduction in newborn birth weight. An average newborn weighs about 3,400 grams (about 7.5lbs). Hispanic mothers or those with lower education levels were more likely to have children affected by Dinch, the study found.

Previous research on animals and human cells has found that Dinch by-products can interfere with the hormones in a pregnant woman that guide fetal development, and may trigger inflammation that affects how nutrients and oxygen reach the baby, NYU’s authors wrote.

The paper appears to expose yet another classic example of industry replacing one dangerous chemical with a compound that has similar health effects. This resets the regulatory and research process, even though the new chemical is very similar in structure or has the same health risks.