March 31, 2026
Aditya Romansa/UNSPLASH.COM
Exposure during pregnancy to phthalates, a common type of chemical used in many plastics, is linked to millions of preterm births worldwide, a new study finds.
Chemicals commonly found in plastics contributed to nearly 2 million premature births worldwide in 2018, a new study found.
The causes of premature births are not entirely understood, but research has shown that pregnant women who are exposed to phthalates — chemicals used to make plastics more flexible and durable — have a significantly increased risk of delivering babies prematurely.
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The new study, published Tuesday, found that exposure to phthalates during pregnancy was linked to more than 8% of preterm births and approximately 74,000 newborn deaths in 2018.
"By estimating how much phthalate exposure may contribute to preterm birth worldwide, our findings highlight that reducing exposure, especially in vulnerable regions, could help prevent early births and the health problems that often follow," Sara Hyman, the study's lead author, said in a news release.
Phthalates are considered "everywhere chemicals," meaning that they are manmade chemicals pervasive in the environment. People are exposed to them when they eat highly-processed food, because the chemicals are used in factories. People also come into contact with phthalates, because they are used in some cosmetic products, vinyl flooring and medical equipment.
Premature or preterm births are those that occur three weeks or more before a woman's delivery date. A full-term birth is about 40 weeks.
When a baby is born too early, organs and the central nervous system are still developing, putting the infant's life at risk. Premature birth may also increase a baby's risk of having developmental delays later in life, according to the Cleveland Clinic.
For the new study, the researchers focused on the toxin, di-2-ethylhexyl phthalate (DEHP), one of the chemicals considered phthalates. They used large surveys conducted in the United States, Canada and Europe and estimates from other investigations to determine DEHP exposure. They combined that data with data about premature births and newborn deaths.
The researchers also used this method to estimate the impact of exposure to another phthalate, diisononyl phthalate (DiNP), for pregnant women and determined that it contributed to nearly 1.9 million premature births worldwide.
The findings show that substituting one phthalate for another in terms of regulation is insufficient for helping prevent preterm births, the researchers said.
"We are playing a dangerous game of Whac-A-Mole with hazardous chemicals, and these findings highlight the urgent need for stronger, class-wide oversight of plastic additives to avoid repeating the same mistakes," said the study's senior author, Dr. Leonardo Trasande, a professor of pediatrics at NYU Grossman School of Medicine in New York.
