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WEDNESDAY, Feb. 19, 2020 (HealthDay News) — Gestational exposure to phthalates is associated with higher scores on the Social Responsiveness Scale II (SRS-2), as a measure of autistic traits and social impairment, according to a study published online Feb. 19 in Environmental Health Perspectives<\/i>.<\/p>\n
Youssef Oulhote, Ph.D., from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, and colleagues enrolled 2,001 women aged >18 years during the first trimester of pregnancy to examine the association between gestational phthalates and autistic traits. A total of 610 children underwent neuropsychological assessments at age 3 to 4 years, including SRS-2. For 510 children with complete data, the difference in SRS-2 T-scores was estimated for a doubling of phthalate concentrations.<\/p>\n
The researchers found that significantly higher total SRS T-scores, indicating greater overall social impairment, were seen for children with higher gestational exposure to mono-n-butyl (MBP) and mono-3-carboxypropyl (MCPP) concentrations; in addition, they had higher scores on subdomains indicating deficits in social cognition, social communication, social motivation, and restricted interests\/repetitive behaviors. A doubling in concentrations of MBP and MCPP was associated with 0.6 (95 percent confidence interval, 0.1 to 1.0) and 0.5 (95 percent confidence interval, 0.1 to 0.8) higher total SRS T-scores, respectively. Consistently and significantly stronger associations were seen for boys versus girls and for children with lower prenatal folic acid supplementation versus those with adequate folic acid supplementation.<\/p>\n
“One of the most important findings is how adequate folic acid supplementation in pregnancy may offset the potential harmful effects of phthalates in regard to autistic traits,” Oulhote said in a statement.<\/p>\n