Prenatal exposure to certain phthalates and phenols is associated with lower IQ at age 3
28 October 2026
Phthalates and phenols are chemicals found in the environment and in the bodies of pregnant women. Many of them are known or suspected endocrine disruptors and, as such, can interfere with the functioning of the endocrine system. This can have health implications during fetal development or early childhood. A team from Inserm at the University of Grenoble-Alpes, in collaboration with the CNRS, the Grenoble University Hospital, and the University of Granada (Spain), investigated the impact of perinatal exposure to these substances on children’s intelligence quotient (IQ), as assessed at age three. Based on a cohort study involving 380 mothers and their children, and a modeling approach incorporating prior knowledge on the subject, the researchers observed associations between exposure to certain phthalates and bisphenol A during the third trimester of pregnancy and the children’s IQ scores. These findings are published in Environmental Health Perspectives.
Source:
Mixture of Plasticizer Chemicals and Child Intelligence: A Weight-of-2 Evidence and Meta-Analysis-Informed Bayesian Approach in a Cohort with Improved Exposure Assessment
Vicente Mustieles, Matthieu Rolland, Ainhoa Perez-Cantero, Sam Bayat, Severine Valmary-Degano, Cathrine Thomsen, Amrit K. Sakhi, Remy Slama, Karine Guichardet, and Claire Philippat.
Environmental Health Pespectives, mardi 20 octobre 2026. https://doi.org/10.1021/EHP.6c00297