Monday, August 11, 2014 Many pregnant women and their unborn children are being exposed to antibacterial compounds that may be linked to developmental and reproductive issues, a new small study suggests. The antibacterial triclosan appeared in the urine of every woman tested in the study, and triclocarban, another antibacterial chemical, appeared in more than 85 percent of the urine samples, the researchers report. Potentially worse, triclosan also showed up in more than half the samples of umbilical cord blood taken from the mothers, indicating that the chemical is reaching some fetuses. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is reviewing the safety of triclosan following animal studies that showed the chemical can affect the way hormones function. Such interference -- known as _endocrine disruption_ (everydayhealth/green-health-pictures/the-dangers-of-endocrine-disrupting-chemical s.aspx#1) -- can potentially affect the development of an unborn fetus, said study co-author Laura Geer, an assistant professor of environmental and occupational health sciences at SUNY Downstate School of Public Health.
Posted on: Sun, 17 Aug 2014 03:08:01 +0000