The cancer-causing chemicals can be found in dishware, hair coloring, plastics, and pesticides. According to experts at the University of California, San Francisco and Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, pregnant women in the United States are being exposed to chemicals such as melamin
acidMelamine and cyanuric acid were discovered in virtually all research participants’ samples, although the greatest levels were observed among women of color and those who had greater exposure to tobacco. Four aromatic amines, which are commonly used in products containing dyes and pigments, were also discovered in virtually all pregnant participants.
“These chemicals are of serious concern due to their links to cancer and developmental toxicity, yet they are not routinely monitored in the United States,” said Tracey J. Woodruff, Ph.D.
For their study, researchers measured 45 chemicals associated with cancer and other risks using new methods to capture chemicals or chemical traces in urine samples from a small but diverse group of 171 women who are part of the National Institutes of Health’s Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes Program. The study period covered 2008 to 2020.
“It’s disconcerting that we continue to find higher levels of many of these harmful chemicals in people of color,” said study co-senior author Jessie Buckley, Ph.D., an associate professor at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.