FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

A new National Institutes of Health (NIH)-funded study found that pregnant women are exposed to a variety of dangerous chemicals commonly found in household products. People can be exposed to these chemicals through the air, contaminated food, household dust, water, plastics, products that contain dyes and pigments, and many other sources.

This study used new methods to measure the levels of 45 chemicals in urine samples from 171 pregnant women participating in the NIH Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) Program. Two of these chemicals, melamine and cyanuric acid, were found in over 99% of study participants, and exposure to four different types of aromatic amines were also found in nearly all participants. Levels of these chemicals were higher among Hispanic and non-Hispanic Black participants and those exposed to tobacco smoke.

“This is the first national study to reveal that pregnant women in the U.S. are widely exposed to melamine, cyanuric acid, and aromatic amines—chemicals that may be harmful to maternal health and child development,” said Giehae Choi, PhD.

ECHO Program investigators Dr. Choi and Jessie Buckley, PhD, both of Johns Hopkins University, along with Tracey Woodruff, PhD, MPH of the University of California, San Francisco led this collaborative research effort published in Chemosphere.

Choi, G. et al. Exposure to melamine and its derivatives and aromatic amines among pregnant women in the United States: The ECHO Program. Chemosphere. DOI: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2022.135599

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About ECHO: ECHO is a nationwide research program supported by the NIH. Launched in 2016, ECHO aims to enhance the health of children for generations to come. ECHO investigators study the effects of a broad range of early environmental influences on child health and development. For more information, visit echochildren.org.

About the NIH: NIH, the nation’s medical research agency, includes 27 Institutes and Centers and is a component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. NIH is the primary federal agency conducting and supporting basic, clinical, and translational medical research, and is investigating the causes, treatments, and cures for both common and rare diseases. For more information, visit www.nih.gov.