Plastics Components Linked to Allergies and Illness in Kids

by Greg E. Sharon MD

Recently experts are suggesting that patients may have an adverse reaction to plastics not thought of before. Polyurethanes and childhood asthma. Krone CA, Klingner TD, Ely JT. Med Sci Monit. 2003 Dec;9(12):HY39-43 " Skin exposure to polyurethane and, thus, to isocyanates early in life through contact with plastics. can lead to skin sensitization and asthma. We postulate that skin contact with polyurethane-containing medical materials may be involved in dysregulation of the childs immune system and thus could predispose infants to the development of childhood asthma." 

Inadvertent exposure to xenoestrogens in children. Olea N, Olea-Serrano F, Lardelli-Claret P, Rivas A, Barba-Navarro A.Toxicol Ind Health. 1999 Jan-Mar;15(1-2):151-8 This article reviews previous studies and presents new data on pesticide exposure in childhood with exposure to xenoestrogens (chemicals which to body looks like sex hormones), including pesticides, epoxy resins, and polycarbonates. Samples of fat from children living in farm areas contained a total of 14 pesticides, including lindane, HCH, heptachlor, aldrin, dieldrin, endrin, endosulfan, o,p'-DDE, and o,p'-DDD, among others. Of the 113 samples studied, 43 were positive for one or more pesticides, some of which have estrogenic activity. The number of new substances that mimic the action of endogenous estrogens is increasing rapidly. These endocrine-disrupting chemicals are not restricted to pesticides. Several different compounds used in the food industry, in plasticizers, and in dental restorations are also estrogenic. The few studies that have investigated their effects in humans all indicate that concerns are warranted. If there is indeed an association between exposure to substances with hormone-disruptive activity and certain disorders of sexual maturation, the incidence of such disorders should be greater in areas where exposure to agents with this activity is high.

Environmental Health Perspectives, October 2004.

Exposure to phthalates -- compounds used in making plastics -- at levels commonly found indoors, appears to be associated with allergic symptoms in children, according to Swedish investigators. "Although multiple factors likely are responsible for the increases in allergies and asthma that have been documented in developed countries over the past 30 years," the authors note in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives, "it is striking that these increases have occurred during a period when plasticized products have become ubiquitous in the homes, schools, and workplaces of the developed world."  The team's findings come from study of 400 children in Sweden. About half had persistent allergic symptoms and half did not. The researchers evaluated each child as well as their home environment, which included a measurement of phthalate levels in dust. House dust samples from allergic subjects had higher levels of butyl benzyl phthalate (BBzP) than those from non-allergic participants, lead author Dr. Carl-Gustaf Bornehag, from Karlstad University in Sweden, and colleagues report. "Phthalates are all around us in a host of plastic products," Dr. Jim Burkhart, a science editor with journal, said in a statement. "This study suggests that they may be having a direct influence on the health of a great number of children."

Thrombocytopenia associated with environmental exposure to polyurethane. Michelson AD.Am J Hematol. 1991 Oct;38(2):145-6. Few chemicals in the environment have been implicated as causes of isolated thrombocytopenia, and the evidence is usually less than convincing because the patients were not rechallenged with the chemical in vivo. In the present paper, a child is reported with the onset of thrombocytopenia in temporal association with environmental exposure to polyurethane. Five years after the initial thrombocytopenia had resolved, an inadvertent in vivo rechallenge with environmental polyurethane resulted in recurrence of the thrombocytopenia. This recurrence, together with the fact that only 1-4% of cases of idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura in children recur, provided strong evidence for a causal role for the polyurethane exposure in this patient's thrombocytopenia. In summary, environmental exposure to polyurethane should be considered in the differential diagnosis of acquired thrombocytopenia in childhood.

I will keep on top of this issue but hopefully further research will assist in the avoidance of the combinations or chemicals that are causing this problem. Until then it may be prudent to not cook, microwave nor store foods under or in plastics.

October 20th, 2004