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Baby-bottle chemicals 'could make children obese for life', say scientists
Last updated at 11:07am on 15.05.08
Hidden risk: Exposure to 'gender-bending' chemicals in baby bottles may condemn children to obesity as adults, say researchers
Chemicals found in baby bottles and other everyday products could be condemning children to a lifetime of obesity, experts have warned.
Three studies suggest that exposure early in life to "gender-bending" chemicals widely used in plastics, non-stick pans and water pipes can lead to fatness in adulthood.
It is thought the chemicals alter the genes and hormones involved in maintaining a healthy weight.
Young children and unborn babies are likely to be particularly vulnerable, with just one dose potentially altering metabolism for life, the European Congress of Obesity in Geneva heard yesterday.
The chemicals include bisphenol A - found in plastic baby bottles, water bottles and tin cans - which has already been linked to breast cancer, early puberty, miscarriage and infertility.
The latest finding is likely to strengthen calls for it to be banned.
Last week, the National Childbirth Trust urged manufacturers to put warnings on baby bottles containing the oestrogen-like chemical.
Researchers from Tufts University in Massachusetts implicated bisphenol A in obesity after tracking the health of mice whose mothers had been exposed to the chemical while pregnant and nursing them.
They found the babies put on more weight than other mice as they grew up, despite eating the same quantity of food and doing the same amount of exercise.
Although the research does not prove bisphenol A causes obesity in humans, the chemical is known to leach out of plastic bottles and tin cans into food and drink.
Most people have some in their blood and it has also been found in breast milk, in amniotic fluid and in the umbilical cord.
Obesity cure? Researchers said the finding may explain why some people spend their lives fighting weight gain
Researcher Beverly Rubin said: "This study indicates that developmental-exposure to this chemical prior to and just after birth can exert a long-lasting influence on body weight regulation."
A second study, carried out by U.S. government scientists, looked at the effects of perfluorooctanoic acid, or PFOA, a chemical found in scores of products from pizza boxes to non-stick pans.
It showed mice exposed to the chemical in the womb were unusually small at birth but became overweight as adults.
The final study, by University of California scientists, revealed that tributylin, a chemical found in PVC water pipes, programs mice to become fat.
Researcher Dr Bruce Blumberg said the finding could explain why some people spend their lives fighting weight gain.
Chemical manufacturers insisted that bisphenol A does not pose a health risk.
Fiona Ferguson, of the Chemical Industries Association, said levels found in food and drink had recently been given the all-clear by the Government's food watchdog.
AUTISM WARNING OVER INSECTICIDES IN SHAMPOO
Pregnant women who use flea shampoos on pets are twice as likely to have a child with autism, according to researchers.
The riskiest period was found to be the middle third of pregnancy, between 13 and 24 weeks.
Findings from a study of more than 500 children, including 333 with autism spectrum disorders, will be presented today at the International Meeting For Autism Research in London.
It is the first time a link has been suggested between autism and a mother's exposure to pet shampoos containing pyrethrin insecticides.
But there is growing evidence that health problems may be triggered by an interaction between environmental factors, such as exposure to pesticides and other chemicals, and faulty genes.
The study, at the University of California Davis Centre for Children's Environmental Health, found that mothers of the children with autism spectrum disorders, which include Asperger's syndrome, were twice as likely to report using pet shampoos for fleas or ticks than mothers of normally developing children.
A spokesman for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said three products containing pyrethrins are authorised for use in the UK and all carry safety warnings.
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Great, another excuse for overweight people to blame everyone and everything but themselves for their size.
- Jane, London
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