Environmental Chemicals

New study finds associations between use of skin care products and exposure to potential developmental toxicants

mthomp7 — Wed, 04 Sep 2024 13:15:40 +0000

New study finds associations between use of skin care products and exposure to potential developmental toxicants mthomp7 Wed, 09/04/2024 - 09:15

In This Story

Michael S. Bloom, PhD, MS, FACE

Use of skin care products is associated with exposure to phthalates and phthalate-replacement chemicals in young children, according to the new and first-of-its-kind study at ��AV's College of Public Health.

A new study led by primary investigator Michael S. Bloom, professor in the Department of Global and Community Health at George Mason’s College of Public Health, has found that use of skin care products including lotions, hair oils, hair conditioners, ointments, and sunscreen is associated with higher levels of phthalates in children’s urine. The associations depend in part upon the child’s racial and ethnic identity and their sex as assigned at birth. The study was co-authored by two George Mason Master of Public Health alumni, Juliana Clark and Kelly Garcia.

A new study led by primary investigator Michael S. Bloom has found that use of skin care products including lotions, hair oils, hair conditioners, ointments, and sunscreen is associated with higher levels of phthalates in children’s urine. Photo by Michelle Thompson/College of Public Health

“This is the first study to suggest that different skin care products used by young children may differentially increase exposure to endocrine-disrupting phthalates and phthalate replacements in young children,” said Bloom.

Phthalates and phthalate-replacement compounds are endocrine-disrupting chemicals, meaning they may interfere with the body’s hormones. Exposure to these chemicals in early childhood has been associated with neurodevelopmental, reproductive, and metabolic disease concerns in previous studies. Some of these chemicals are often used as carriers for the active ingredients in skin care products; others may be used in plastic packaging.

The study collected medical data from 630 children between the ages of 4 and 8 from 10 different sites across the United States, including a clinical examination and a urinalysis. The child’s parent or guardian was also asked to complete a survey within 24 hours prior to the child’s examination, which included questions regarding the child’s sociodemographic information (race/ethnic identity, sex assigned at birth, etc.). It also asked parents to list all the skin care products, including lotions, soaps, shampoos, oils, and cosmetics, that were applied to the child’s skin in the 24 hours prior to their examination, with as much specificity as possible regarding the product type and brand or generic name.

“We found associations between recent use of different skin care products and higher concentrations of phthalate and phthalate-replacement compounds,” said Bloom. “There were different relationships between the use of skin care products and the endocrine-disrupting chemicals in children depending on their racial and ethnic identities and their sex assigned at birth. We also found that distinct patterns of using multiple skin care products were predictive of higher concentrations of phthalates and phthalate replacements.”

While Bloom and his team say that further studies are necessary to confirm these findings, the results suggest that children in different racial and ethnic groups may experience different levels of risk for exposure to phthalates. In particular, they found the highest levels of phthalates and phthalate replacements in the urine of non-Hispanic Black participants. The differences may correlate to brand availability and preferences, methods and timing of product application, and/or the frequency of use by children with different racial and ethnic identities.

“The results can inform policies to address the use of endocrine-disrupting chemicals in skin care products that may be used on children and to help advise parents’ decisions about using products to limit their children’s exposure to potential developmental toxicants,” said Bloom.

“Impact of skin care products on phthalates and phthalate replacements in children: the ECHO-FGS” was published online in Environmental Health Perspectives in September 2024. This research was funded by the U.S. National Institute of Health (NIH) Environmental Influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) study.

Additional authors include: Juliana Clark, ��AV; John L. Pearce, Medical University of South Carolina; Pamela L. Ferguson, Medical University of South Carolina; Roger B. Newman, Medical University of South Carolina; James R. Roberts, Medical University of South Carolina; William A. Grobman, The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center; Anthony C. Sciscione, Christiana Care Health System; Daniel W. Skupski, New York Presbyterian Queens Hospital; Kelly E. Garcia, ��AV; John E. Vena, Medical University of South Carolina; Kelly J. Hunt, Medical University of South Carolina; the ECHO-FGS study group.

Topics

Master of Public Health

Environmental Chemicals

Research

1,000 Children: Study of Children’s Long-Term Health and Development Celebrates Major Milestone at CHHS

dhawkin — Fri, 26 Mar 2021 18:56:41 +0000

1,000 Children: Study of Children’s Long-Term Health and Development Celebrates Major Milestone at CHHS dhawkin Fri, 03/26/2021 - 14:56

In This Story

Dr. Kathi Huddleston, PhD, MSN

Environmental Influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) longitudinal study recruits thousandth child

How do environmental factors such as air pollution, chemical exposures, social, genetic, and neighborhood exposures influence obesity and asthma rates? We are also all aware that a new environmental exposure, the COVID-19 pandemic, has influenced our children’s access to social and educational resources. How might this influence the health and developmental outcomes of our children?

The College of Health and Human Services (the College) is exploring these questions as it collaborates in the ECHO program, a seven-year initiative funded by the National Institutes of Health. In addition to the large number of children included in the longitudinal study and the collaboration of the research teams to maximize the study effectiveness, ECHO is the first national longitudinal childhood study being conducted during a pandemic.

The College joined the ECHO program and started seeing participants in January of 2020, and in March of 2021, the College enrolled its thousandth child in the study. The Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai leads the cohort with Boston Children’s Hospital and Mason. Mason and the families of Northern Virginia play a large role in the ECHO data; only five other ECHO cohorts in the ECHO consortium have enrolled more children into the national study.

To date, the College has recruited 1,000 children, completed more than 14,000 surveys, collected more than 1,600 biospecimens, and conducted more than 150 safe face-to-face visits with children and families. As part of their surveys, the College asks families questions to assess the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on their lives such as employment, staying home, and changes in diet. The research team also uses “child Fitbits” to track the activity of the children in the study over a week – providing a snapshot of how activity has changed during the pandemic. Together, these will provide critical information on how the pandemic is affecting children and families in the short term and over time.

The COVID-19 pandemic has presented an opportunity to study environmental impacts on children during a pandemic. “With the pandemic, we want to see how it has influenced the health of children and families,” explains Dr. Kathi Huddleston, principal investigator of ECHO at Mason. “For example, are they going to the doctor less and getting delayed in their routine vaccination schedules? Are students learning English as a second language losing progress because they’re not attending school and having as much opportunity to practice?”

“We’re deeply concerned about the psychological health of the next generation and the underlying health disparities and economic disadvantages that are being further exacerbated with the COVID-19 pandemic,” explains Huddleston. “We know there will be long-term impacts from the pandemic on children and families, and by participating in ECHO, we will be able to determine certain high-risk exposures and certain high-risk populations, so we can identify practice, programs, and policies that can address these issues and hopefully provide better future public health measures.”

Along with 68 other ECHO teams across the country, the College is working to investigate the impact of different types of environmental exposures, including the COVID-19 pandemic, on five key pediatric health and development outcomes: adverse pregnancy and birth outcomes; airway function; obesity; neurodevelopment, and health and well-being. Each cohort looks at a specific population or disease but shares its data with the larger consortium to maximize the research questions that can be answered with the longitudinal study.

Mason’s ECHO cohort will include data on more than 1,700 children by 2023, and the national ECHO program will include data on more than 50,000 children. Due to the unique collaboration of nearly seventy cohorts across the country – each now enrolling their families to the national program asking the same survey questions and collecting the same biological samples – ECHO will offer an unprecedented opportunity for researchers to assess how numerous environmental exposures impact a diverse set of children across our country.

The College’s participation in ECHO is part of a new set of research initiatives made possible with the opening of the Population Health Center on the Fairfax campus.

Topics

CHHS Research

coronavirus; covid-19

population health center

Environmental Chemicals

Environmental Health

Public Health

College of Health and Human Services

CHHS News

Center for Health Equity