Prenatal exposure to common household chemical ups eczema risk in kids

Washington - Exposure to a ubiquitous household chemical called butylbenzyl phthalate (BBzP) in the womb can increase a child’s risk for developing eczema, a new research has revealed. Widely used in vinyl flooring, artificial leather and other materials, BBzB can be slowly released into air in homes.

Eczema, which is characterized by dry, itchy red skin on the face, scalp, or extremities, is common in early childhood.

“While hereditary factors, allergens, and exposure to tobacco smoke are known to contribute to the condition, our study is the first to show that prenatal exposure to BBzB is a risk factor,” Allan C. Just, PhD, first author on the Mailman School study and currently a postdoctoral researcher at the Harvard School of Public Health, said.

The study looked at 407 nonsmoking African-American and Dominican women and their children in New York City.

Exposure to BBzB was measured through a urine test during the third trimester of pregnancy.

Following birth, the mothers were asked if their child had been diagnosed with eczema. The result: onset of eczema by age 2 was 52 percent more likely in children whose mothers had been exposed to higher concentrations of BBzP, compared with those whose mothers had been exposed to lower concentrations.

All but one of the women in the study showed some level of exposure to the chemical.

How BBzP might induce eczema remains murky.

To explore that question, the researchers looked at allergies as a possible mechanism. Children were tested for three common indoor allergens: cockroaches, dust mites, and mice, as well as for total IgE, a biomarker for an immune response to all allergens.

But they did not find evidence of a link between BBzP exposure and allergy.

The researchers also found that while African-American mothers in the study were twice as likely as their Dominican-American counterparts to report that their child had been diagnosed with eczema, both groups had a similar association between BBzP exposure and the disease.

Previous research by study co-author Robin M. Whyatt, DrPH, Professor of Clinical Environmental Health Sciences and Co-Deputy Director of the Columbia Center for Children’s Environmental Health, found that exposure to BBzP and other phthalates was shown to delay motor skill development in young children and to increase risk for behavioral problems.

Phthalates are also known to disrupt the body’s endocrine system.

Details are published in the advance online edition of Environmental Health Perspectives, a journal of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences.