Premature babies are being exposed to massive quantities of gender-bending chemicals in intensive-care wards, according to a new study. The findings are particularly shocking because premature babies are even more vulnerable to the effects of such chemicals than full-term babies.
In 2021, the EU brought into force a new regulation limiting the use of certain endocrine-disrupting substances in medical equipment, but this new study reveals these chemicals are still present in medical equipment and that the most vulnerable populations are being exposed to them at worrying levels. DEHP (di-(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate), for example, was widely detected in the new study, despite being a known endocrine-disruptor and probable carcinogen.
Researchers took urine samples from premature babies (neonates) born before 31 weeks gestational age at the Antwerp University Hospital, Belgium. Repeated samples were taken over a period of ten weeks after birth or until the subjects were discharged from the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU).
Analysis of the samples showed that almost all urine samples contained metabolites of harmful endocrine-disrupting chemicals including phthalates and other plasticizers. These chemicals have been linked to a wide variety of reproductive and health harms, from genital malformation, gender dysphoria and reduced fertility, to obesity and some forms of cancer.
Professor Shanna Swan, a reproductive-health expert from Mount Sinai University, has made endocrine-disruptors like phthalates central to her explanation of the global fertility crisis, which could see mankind unable to reproduce by natural means within decades, if current trends in sperm counts continue.
Hellbound and Down 