Study: prenatal exposure to household chemicals linked to lower IQ scores

Prenatal exposure to both high phthalates, a type of chemical widely used in plastics, has been linked to lower IQ, researchers say.

The study - conducted by researchers at the Mailman School of Public Health conducted at Columbia University found and published Wednesday in the journal PLoS ONE - found that seven, mothers of children, most, to a degree high di-n-butyl phthalate exposed to (DnBP) and diisobutyl phthalate (DiBP) had IQs that were six or eight points less than the least exposed peers.

"I think we were very surprised to not IQ scores, but how great was the difference," the lead author of the study Pam Factor-Litvak, an epidemiologist at the Mailman School told Fox News.

The study used data in the Columbia Center for Children's Health and the Environment (CCCEH) longitudinal birth cohort study together - a study which observed and monitored the health of 328 low-income mothers in New York and their children. The investigation must unravel the relationships between environmental pollutants and children's health issues.

In addition to its use as a common phthalate plasticizers are often in synthetic fragrances which improve shampoos, deodorants and dryer sheets found.

The survey research and the study was based on urine samples from pregnant women were tested for the presence of four phthalates. These tests were then compared to the children of IQ tests at the age of seven. Although the findings do not show causality, scientists say the researchers followed the study participants over time gives credibility to the results.

The authors of the study acknowledge, however, that a study with a larger segments of the population is needed to refine a cause and effect possible. But researchers already have their theories about how the two chemicals can be moved IQ scores.

Factor-Litvak told Live Science that both chemicals disrupt hormones such as thyroid levels, which are of paramount importance for the early development of the brain to be. "You can also modulate the activity of an enzyme called aromatase," she said. Aromatase testosterone into estrogen works to convert a key neurodevelopmental hormone.