Are we born contaminated? Chemicals and microplastics affect human health from pregnancy onwards.

Microplastics and chemicals are now present almost everywhere. Packaging, food, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, clothing, paint, and even dust, soil, and air. Scientists have long warned about this widespread contamination, which, according to studies, has also spread to the bodies of animals... and humans. So-called endocrine disruptors generate lifelong health consequences for fetuses . The amount of chemicals released by packaging, for example, is small, but the biological effects they produce at the hormonal level are very large, and the impact is especially serious during pregnancies , as they affect the entire development of the baby.

The Spanish Society of General and Family Physicians (SEMG) raised the issue at its most recent congress, held in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, where it emphasized the need to reduce exposure to these endocrine disruptors "to protect our health and that of future generations." This was, in fact, the main topic of one of the roundtable discussions, which featured Marciel Maffini, an international expert in chemical safety and environmental health, specializing in cancer and endocrine disruption.

"We are disadvantaging future children, an entire generation that will have fewer functions," the American researcher explains in an interview with 20minutos . She explains that several studies have already found microplastic particles in the organs of cadavers and even in the placentas of women who have given birth. Up to 40 industrial chemicals have been detected in umbilical cord blood. "The fact is that we don't really know how they enter, what they do, whether they stay in an organ or move... So there's still a lot to discover," she adds.

What is known is that the more than 2,000 endocrine disruptors that exist— phthalates, parabens, pesticides, etc. —can mimic, block, or alter the functions of natural hormones, causing adverse health effects ranging from reproductive problems to metabolic disorders (such as obesity or type 2 diabetes ), neurological disorders, and even certain types of cancer (such as breast, prostate, or testicular cancer). "Children now have type 2 diabetes, which is truly an adult disease. And that ultimately creates a chain reaction, because it could potentially have other implications, such as fatty liver disease," Maffini points out.

The problem is exacerbated in pregnancy, since during pregnancy, new systems are produced, organs, neural connections, and cells are formed, which inevitably end up being affected by these neuronal disruptors. "If something happens to the brain while the neural connections are being generated, it can't be undone," she indicates. The expert explains that several studies have already warned of the long-term effects of exposure during pregnancy, not only in terms of contracting chronic diseases, but also influencing the brain and behavioral development of minors, causing alterations in cognitive processing in children whose mothers were exposed during pregnancy.

"Prevention goes beyond cigarettes and alcohol. Everything that enters the mother's body goes to the fetus."

"It's been observed that boys who were exposed during pregnancy tend to be more depressed or have more violent or hyperactive behavior ," the scientist emphasizes. The important thing, she assures, is to increase precautions during pregnancy, avoiding chemicals found in certain plastic containers, foods, makeup, etc. "Prevention goes beyond cigarettes and alcohol. We need to start increasing that list of precautions, because whatever enters your skin goes to the baby. Everything that enters the mother's body goes to the fetus. Most things pass to the placenta, so they go directly to the baby," she reiterates.

Recently, a team of researchers from the University of Murcia and the Next Fertility Murcia fertility center found microplastics in semen and ovarian samples: polytetrafluoroethylene (31%), polystyrene (7%), polyethylene terephthalate (9%), polyamide (5%), polypropylene (28%) and polyurethane (PU).

A slice of bread, 35 pollutants

The World Health Organization ( WHO ) has been warning for years about the "global threat" that these substances pose to both human health and the environment. The European Union ( EU ) has passed several regulations to identify and restrict the manufacture and use of chemicals, but many remain present in imported products or in the environment.

Maffini wanted to find out how much we're exposed to these substances, and to do so, she used a database from the United States Department of Agriculture, which lists nearly half a million food products sold in supermarkets, and selected several of them for analysis . "An isotonic sports drink had 20 or more chemical ingredients among its components, and that's not even counting those contained in the packaging itself and those in the raw materials used to make the drink," she explains. In a piece of industrially baked bread, she found another 35 contaminants. "Imagine you drink an isotonic drink, go exercise, and come back and have a sandwich. That alone is ingesting a large amount of chemicals," says the scientist, who points out that this exposure increases with the consumption of animals, which are also contaminated.

Several regions in the United States have issued warnings against the consumption of certain fish, such as carp, eel, and sea bass, due to the presence of mercury, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), and perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). A study published in the journal Environmental Research calculated that eating a fish from a US river or lake is equivalent to ingesting water contaminated with chemicals like Teflon for a month.

Another study conducted in Canada found that fresh produce, such as peppers and tomatoes, was highly contaminated with phthalates. "It seems it was because the boxes they were stored in were painted with a drawing, which was transferred to the cardboard and then glued to the natural products. Everything can have fluorinated compounds, because the wastewater collected from homes is dried and sold as fertilizer for fields and gardens. So, even if you sow and plant, in your case, it's contaminated, because your garden, your soil, will be contaminated too," he asserts.

Change the chip

"We've focused on public health measures such as weight loss, exercise, vaccinations... and yet, there are other measures we're not as familiar with, such as food packaging or even pharmaceuticals," explained Jonatan Alonso Mortez, a member of the Endocrinology and Nutrition, Lifestyle, and Public Health Working Groups, at the 31st SEMG Congress. Alonso Mortez urged increased research and policies and efforts to promote the use of glass as an alternative. "It has great scientific and regulatory recognition for its chemical energy, stability, flexibility... and low environmental impact," he argued.

"Absolutely everything needs to change. Until now, all we've been using are these contaminated materials. We need to change our mindset. It's going to take time, but it has to be done. And the responsibility doesn't just lie with the consumer. It also lies with the agencies that regulate chemicals and the governments. We need to tell governments, with our votes, and companies, with our wallets, that this isn't what we want ," Maffini concludes.