Don’t take our word for it. Here’s every fact on this site, with its evidence grade, its caveats, and a link to the source, so you can check us.
We start you on the strong ones: findings that have been replicated or come from one large, well-controlled study. Moderate and weak facts are here too, labeled for what they are. Use “Link to this fact” to share a single card.
Children and pregnancy / Measured in people or real products
In a Norwegian cohort of 850 mother-child pairs, mothers with the highest urinary levels of DEHP breakdown products at about 17 weeks of pregnancy had almost three times the odds of a child later diagnosed with ADHD (OR 2.99, 95% CI 1.47-5.49) versus the lowest fifth.
Moderate evidence.
Caveats
Observational case-control with one spot urine; residual confounding by birth year acknowledged; DEHP comes mainly from food and plastics, not fragrance; other cohorts found no DEHP-behavior link.
Source: Engel 2018, Environmental Health Perspectives Link to this fact
Children and pregnancy / Review of other studies
A 2020 US EPA systematic review of 17 informative studies, mostly measuring phthalates in pregnant women's urine, graded the evidence for effects on children's IQ, motor skills, behavior, ADHD, autistic traits and infant behavior as only 'slight' or 'indeterminate' for six common phthalates, with one exception: BBP and motor development in girls, rated 'moderate'.
Moderate evidence.
Caveats
Authors are US EPA scientists (no industry funding); search ended March 2019; exposure is urinary phthalate metabolites from all sources, not fragrance; 'slight' is not 'safe', and the authors say the nulls partly reflect measurement limits.
Source: Radke 2020, Environment International Link to this fact
Children and pregnancy / Other evidence
In a 2020 EPA meta-analysis of Bayley infant and toddler scores, a one ln-unit rise in maternal urinary DEHP, DBP, DIBP, BBP or DEP metabolites changed mental scores by about -0.2 to +0.3 points and motor scores by about -0.7 to 0.0 points, with every confidence interval including zero.
Moderate evidence: Only 4-7 studies per estimate; no heterogeneity statistic reported; BBP motor -0.7 (-1.4, 0.0) just touches zero; effects measured at 6 months to 4 years only.
Source: Radke 2020, Environment International Link to this fact
Children and pregnancy / Other evidence
The EPA authors warn that their mostly null findings should not be read as proof phthalates are harmless to the developing brain: one urine sample can understate DEHP's effect by up to 80%, and the studies could not test mixtures or narrow critical windows.
Moderate evidence: This is a methodological argument about bias toward the null, not a demonstration of harm; it applies equally to studies of other chemicals.
Source: Radke 2020, Environment International Link to this fact
Children and pregnancy / Review of other studies
Eight US child-health researchers (Project TENDR) concluded in 2021 that prenatal exposure to certain phthalates can impair child brain development and raise the risk of learning, attention and behavior problems, and called for removing ortho-phthalates from products that reach pregnant women, infants and children.
Moderate evidence.
Caveats
Expert-consensus essay, not a systematic review (no search or grading); several authors produced cohorts they cite; the authors admit findings differ across phthalates, sexes and directions; no industry funding or declared conflicts.
Source: Engel 2021, American Journal of Public Health Link to this fact
Children and pregnancy / Measured in people or real products
In a Chinese birth cohort of 3,209 mother-child pairs, mothers with higher urinary levels of the plastics phthalate DEHP's breakdown products during pregnancy were more likely to have a child who screened positive for autistic traits at age 3 (DEHP risk ratio about 2.0, 95% CI 1.18-3.29). This is an observed association only.
Moderate evidence.
Caveats
Screening flag, not diagnosis; one cohort, one region; single spot urine per trimester; many subgroup comparisons; FDR-adjusted results described as marginal; DEHP is a plastics and food phthalate, not a fragrance ingredient.
Source: Gao et al. 2024 (Eco-Environment & Health), Eco-Environment & Health Link to this fact
Children and pregnancy / Review of other studies
A 2024 systematic review of 107 human studies found that higher phthalate levels in pregnant women's urine go with more preterm birth, based mainly on two meta-analyses (59 studies, OR 1.31; 7 prospective studies, ORs about 1.1-1.2) that it rated high quality.
Moderate evidence.
Caveats
Small pooled effects; a third meta-analysis it cites (Zhong 2021) found ORs of 1.0-1.1 with intervals spanning 1; strongest signals are DEHP (plastics, food), not fragrance DEP; observational; metabolites measured in single spot urines.
Source: Almeida-Toledano 2024, Science of The Total Environment Link to this fact
Children and pregnancy / Review of other studies
In this review's 19 studies of child development, the prenatal phthalate links (language delay, slower processing, ADHD-type behavior, motor scores) were small, specific to one sex or trimester, and all rated low or very low quality.
Moderate evidence: Single-cohort results, mostly 3-4 year olds, questionnaire outcomes, no interaction tests reported; mostly DEHP, DBP, BBzP metabolites.
Source: Almeida-Toledano 2024, Science of The Total Environment Link to this fact
Children and pregnancy / Review of other studies
The review's one 'diethyl phthalate' preterm-birth result (OR 1.36, 1.06-1.76) comes from phthalate-containing prescription drugs taken late in pregnancy, not from perfume or cosmetics.
Moderate evidence: Single Danish registry study (Broe 2019) relayed secondhand; the review says the association was 'mainly due to DEP'.
Source: Almeida-Toledano 2024, Science of The Total Environment Link to this fact
Children and pregnancy / Other evidence
In a New York City study of 319 mothers, higher late-pregnancy urine levels of two dibutyl-type phthalate breakdown products (MnBP, MiBP) went with lower motor-development scores in their 3-year-olds (about 2-3 points per natural-log unit) and higher odds of a motor-delay score.
Moderate evidence: One cohort, one spot urine, no multiplicity correction; mixed plastics and personal-care sources; association only.
Source: Whyatt 2012 (CCCEH), Environmental Health Perspectives Link to this fact
Children and pregnancy / Measured in people or real products
In the same NHANES study, MEP, the urinary marker of the fragrance phthalate DEP, was not associated with ADD (OR 1.0, 95% CI 0.6-1.8), learning disability (1.0, 0.6-1.6) or both together (1.7, 0.9-3.3).
Moderate evidence: Single spot urine measure; MEP also marks other fragranced products, so a null cannot clear or implicate DEP; cross-sectional.
Source: Chopra 2014 (NHANES), Environmental Research Link to this fact
Children and pregnancy / Self-reported survey
Children aged 6-11 who used lotion weekly had about 3 times the urinary methylparaben and propylparaben of children who seldom used it (13.5 vs 4.5 and 4.2 vs 1.35 micrograms per gram creatinine), and children's paraben levels were about 5 times lower than their mothers'.
Moderate evidence.
Caveats
80 children with paraben data, mother-reported use, creatinine-adjusted comparisons between children and adults need caution; the study measures exposure only, with no health outcome.
Source: Larsson 2014, Environment International Link to this fact
Children and pregnancy / Measured in people or real products
Mother and child urine levels were correlated for every phthalate metabolite except one (rs 0.24-0.62, strongest for the benzyl phthalate metabolite MBzP at 0.62) and for BPA, methylparaben, propylparaben and triclosan, pointing to shared household sources.
Moderate evidence: Correlation shows shared exposure patterns, not a specific source; n of about 95 pairs; one sample per person.
Source: Larsson 2014, Environment International Link to this fact
Children and pregnancy / Other evidence
The review states the placenta does not block many environmental toxicants, that more than 200 foreign chemicals have been found in umbilical cord blood, and that many chemicals pass to infants in breast milk.
Moderate evidence: The cord-blood count comes from an advocacy-organization report cited secondhand; presence in cord blood does not by itself show harm.
Source: Grandjean & Landrigan 2014, Lancet Neurology, The Lancet Neurology Link to this fact
Children and pregnancy / Other evidence
In a New York City study of 328 mothers and children, higher late-pregnancy urinary levels of two butyl phthalates (DnBP and DiBP breakdown products) went with about 2.7 lower IQ points per log unit at age 7, and about 7 points lower in the top versus bottom quarter of exposure.
Moderate evidence.
Caveats
Single cohort, one spot urine, observational (authors decline causal language); EPA grades DBP/DiBP cognition evidence only slight; DnBP/DiBP are plastics, food-contact and some personal-care sources.
Children and pregnancy / Other evidence
In the same NYC study, urinary MEP (the marker of the fragrance phthalate DEP) and DEHP metabolites showed no association with child IQ at age 7.
Moderate evidence: One cohort; MEP measured in one third-trimester spot urine; MEP can track perfume use but the study did not measure product use.
Children and pregnancy / Animal study
The Endocrine Society's 2015 statement says fetal and infant exposure to hormone-disrupting chemicals can cause latent disease later in life, and that human studies support lower IQ and cognitive deficits in children exposed prenatally to certain thyroid-disrupting chemicals.
Moderate evidence.
Caveats
No compound-specific numbers; the authors note exposure is 'not always correlated' with lower thyroid hormone in humans, and that serum thyroid hormone may not reflect tissue action.
Source: Gore et al. 2015, Endocr Rev 36(6):593-602, Endocrine Reviews Link to this fact
Children and pregnancy / Other evidence
In a Dutch birth cohort of 3,873 mother-child pairs, children of the 127 mothers with low free thyroxine but normal TSH in early pregnancy (hypothyroxinemia) had about 7% higher mother-rated ADHD-symptom scores at age 8 (95% CI 0.3% to 15%), after adjustment for confounders.
Moderate evidence: One cohort, one thyroid blood draw at about week 14, borderline P (.04), mother-reported symptom scale rather than diagnosis; association only. No chemicals were measured.
Source: Modesto 2015 (Generation R), JAMA Pediatrics Link to this fact
Children and pregnancy / Other evidence
An expert-panel model estimated that prenatal organophosphate-pesticide exposure costs the EU about EUR 146 billion a year (2010 euros) in children's lost IQ and intellectual disability, with the panel judging causation 70-100% probable.
Moderate evidence.
Caveats
A modeled, expert-judgment figure built from US cohort slopes applied to EU urinary DAP levels (nonspecific marker, about 1 week of exposure); same authors as the 2016 update; funded by the Endocrine Society and three foundations; sensitivity range EUR 46.8-195 billion.
Source: Bellanger et al. 2015, J Clin Endocrinol Metab, The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism Link to this fact
Children and pregnancy / Other evidence
The same panel put the yearly EU cost of prenatal PBDE flame-retardant exposure at about EUR 9.59 billion (2010 euros), from about 873,000 lost IQ points, with causation judged 70-100% probable.
Moderate evidence.
Caveats
Modeled, not measured; range EUR 1.58-22.4 billion; US cohorts with higher PBDE exposure and a different congener mix applied to EU levels; reference level 2.82 ng/g, the 10th percentile of one cohort.
Source: Bellanger et al. 2015, J Clin Endocrinol Metab, The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism Link to this fact
Children and pregnancy / Measured in people or real products
In 106 pregnant women in Puerto Rico, higher urinary MEP (the breakdown product of diethyl phthalate, a fragrance and personal-care solvent) went with about 11% lower blood progesterone per interquartile-range increase in MEP (95% CI -17.6% to -2.8%).
Moderate evidence.
Caveats
One small cohort, two blood draws (about 18 and 26 weeks), no multiple-comparison correction, no product-use data so the MEP could not be tied to perfume, and association only; the effect was significant at about 18 weeks and not at 26 weeks.
Source: Johns 2015, Reproductive Biology and Endocrinology Link to this fact
Children and pregnancy / Other evidence
A 2016 consensus statement signed by 47 scientists, clinicians and advocates (Project TENDR) named organophosphate pesticides, PBDE flame retardants, combustion air pollution, lead, mercury and PCBs as chemicals whose neurodevelopmental toxicity it says epidemiological, toxicological and mechanistic studies clearly demonstrate or strongly suggest.
Moderate evidence: The grading is the signatories' own; no systematic review method is described, and the group includes NGO employees. Funded by foundations and NIEHS, not industry.
Source: Bennett et al. 2016 (TENDR Consensus Statement, EHP), Environmental Health Perspectives Link to this fact
Children and pregnancy / Other evidence
The 2016 TENDR statement described phthalates only as an 'emerging concern' for brain development, not as a chemical with clearly demonstrated neurodevelopmental toxicity, and did not mention fragrance.
Moderate evidence: Later TENDR work (Engel 2021) takes a stronger position on ortho-phthalates; this is the same group's earlier wording.
Source: Bennett et al. 2016 (TENDR Consensus Statement, EHP), Environmental Health Perspectives Link to this fact
Children and pregnancy / Other evidence
The TENDR statement cited a 2011 analysis of US CDC biomonitoring data finding that 90% of pregnant women had detectable levels of 62 of the 163 chemicals screened, including PBDEs, PAHs, phthalates, perfluorinated compounds, PCBs, perchlorate, lead and mercury.
Moderate evidence: Secondary citation; detection does not indicate harm, and the data are from 2003-2004.
Source: Bennett et al. 2016 (TENDR Consensus Statement, EHP), Environmental Health Perspectives Link to this fact
Children and pregnancy / Other evidence
A 2019 systematic review of 28 studies (16 on maternal thyroid status in pregnancy) concluded there is moderate evidence that mothers' thyroid problems in pregnancy go with more ADHD symptoms in their children, some evidence for children treated early for congenital hypothyroidism, and little for newborn thyroid levels.
Moderate evidence.
Caveats
Authors say most estimates were small and imprecise and limitations prevent strong conclusions; observational, mostly single thyroid measurements; thyroid status only, no chemical exposure measured.
Children and pregnancy / Review of other studies
Across studies reviewed in 2019, mild maternal thyroid-hormone abnormalities did not give a consistent direction for ADHD: higher maternal TSH went with more symptoms in girls in a Finnish cohort but in boys in a Dutch cohort, and with better attention in a California cohort.
Moderate evidence: Small cohorts for some; different instruments and ages; sex-specific findings may be chance.
Children and pregnancy / Other evidence
Subclinical or overt maternal hypothyroidism was near-null for ADHD medication use in the largest registry-based analysis of the 2019 review (HR 1.06 and 0.98), and the positive hypothyroidism studies were small or unadjusted.
Moderate evidence: Registry outcome is medication use, not diagnosis; exposure timing varies.
Children and pregnancy / Other evidence
In a California cohort of 334 children followed from the womb to age 16, most tests of IQ, executive function, attention and behavior were unrelated to phthalate levels in the mother's pregnancy urine; the authors called the results 'predominantly null'.
Moderate evidence.
Caveats
One cohort of low-income Mexican-American families; two spot urines per pregnancy (poor reproducibility, ICC 0.11-0.33) likely bias toward the null, so nulls are not proof of safety; no multiple-comparison correction.
Source: Hyland 2019 (CHAMACOS), Environmental Health Perspectives Link to this fact
Children and pregnancy / Other evidence
In a 2020 study of 205 Massachusetts 15-year-olds, teens with higher urinary levels of DEHP and other plastic-related antiandrogenic phthalates were about 30% more likely (per doubling) to show clinically significant ADHD-type behavior on parent, teacher and self reports.
Moderate evidence.
Caveats
One cross-sectional visit; antiandrogenic CI touches 1.00; cohort recruited for PCB exposure with 19% ADHD diagnosis (about twice US); behavior scores not diagnosis; association only, reverse causation not excluded; no prenatal exposure data.
Children and pregnancy / Measured in people or real products
Only about 1 in 5 newborns (65 of 345) had methylparaben detectable (5 ng/g or more) in meconium in this Quebec cohort, far lower than the near-universal detection in adult urine, so the study compared a high-exposure minority with everyone else.
Moderate evidence: One cohort and one assay (LOD 5 ng/g); the authors suggest detection marks the most exposed mothers, but did not test this against maternal urine.
Source: Baker 2020, Environment International Link to this fact
Children and pregnancy / Review of other studies
A 2024 narrative review of thyroid and environmental contaminants concludes that studies of chemicals and thyroid function are scarce for pregnancy, the newborn period and childhood, and that the evidence on bisphenols and phthalates is not yet complete across ages and critical windows.
Moderate evidence: Narrative review without grading or counts; it summarizes single cited studies.
Source: Street 2024, Front Endocrinol, Frontiers in Endocrinology Link to this fact
Children and pregnancy / Other evidence
A cited 32-cohort meta-analysis found prenatal organochlorine and PFAS exposure associated with lower neonatal total T4 (not TSH in neonates for the PFAS mixture), the strongest design in this review's chemical section.
Moderate evidence: Relayed by the review, not re-analyzed; PFAS and organochlorines are not fragrance chemicals.
Source: Street 2024, Front Endocrinol, Frontiers in Endocrinology Link to this fact
Children and pregnancy / Other evidence
Fetal thyroid hormone production starts about weeks 10-12 and, in the first half of pregnancy, the fetus depends on maternal thyroxine, which is why the authors treat small thyroid changes in pregnancy as a neurodevelopmental concern.
Moderate evidence: Physiology stated in review; the link from small hormone changes to later harm is asserted, not shown here.
Source: Street 2024, Front Endocrinol, Frontiers in Endocrinology Link to this fact
Children and pregnancy / Measured in people or real products
In a South African birth cohort of 545 mother-child pairs, mothers' second-trimester urinary levels of nine phenols (BPA, BPS, parabens, triclosan, benzophenone-3, pentachlorophenol) were not linked to children's Bayley cognitive scores at age 2, either one at a time or as a mixture.
Moderate evidence.
Caveats
Single cohort, one spot urine and one outcome age; 0.18-61% of samples below detection depending on compound; limited power; no creatinine adjustment reported. Not fragrance ingredients except as personal-care co-exposures.
Source: Zhou 2025, Environmental Research Industry-funded Link to this fact
Children and pregnancy / Measured in people or real products
In a US birth-cohort analysis of about 1,200 children (ECHO), eight phenols measured in pregnant women's urine (methylparaben, propylparaben, BPA, BPS, benzophenone-3, triclosan, and two dichlorophenols), taken together as a mixture, were not associated with the children's parent-reported sleep problems, disturbance or daytime sleep impairment at ages 4-8.
Moderate evidence.
Caveats
Observational, parent-rated outcomes, urine averaged over pregnancy with no trimester resolution, limited covariate set, subsamples as small as 142 for impairment; a null here does not rule out small or timing-specific effects. None of the compounds is a fragrance ingredient.
Source: Geiger 2025, Frontiers in Pediatrics Link to this fact
Children and pregnancy / Other evidence
In 695 mother-child pairs from two North American birth cohorts (HOME and MIREC), a mixture of 29 chemical biomarkers measured in early pregnancy was not statistically linked to behavior problems at age 3: every overall confidence interval for the joint effect included zero.
Moderate evidence: Single spot biomarkers, parent-reported scales, no multiplicity correction; the authors call the results suggestive but imprecise.
Source: Puvvula 2026, Environ Int, Environment International Link to this fact
Children and pregnancy / Review of other studies
The same review reports that age, BMI, smoking, parity and gestational age had poor ability to predict overt or subclinical hypothyroidism in pregnancy, and that factors such as iron deficiency, obesity, ethnicity and endocrine-disrupting chemicals are emerging factors with weak predictive power for screening.
Moderate evidence: Predictive value for screening is not the same as causal contribution; the chemicals were not separately graded.
Children and pregnancy / Other evidence
The review's best direct finding is that higher indoor NO2 from gas heaters went with more school absence: hourly peaks above 80 ppb gave an odds ratio of 1.92 (95% CI 1.13-3.25) for absence, with a dose-response.
Moderate evidence: One cohort; the abstract calls it 'persuasive' but the Discussion grade is 'strongly suggestive'; NO2 here is a combustion exposure, not a fragrance exposure.
Children and pregnancy / Other evidence
Reviewers recommend immediate action in schools on moisture, ventilation and excess NO2 or formaldehyde, arguing that health benefits are likely to bring attendance and performance benefits too, without waiting for proven causality.
Moderate evidence: This is the authors' policy judgment, not a measured outcome; funded by US EPA via the IHP Project.
Children and pregnancy / Other evidence
In a double-blind UK crossover trial of 153 3-year-olds and 144 8/9-year-olds (Southampton), a drink with a blend of synthetic food colors plus 45 mg sodium benzoate was followed by slightly higher hyperactivity scores than a look-alike placebo drink; the adjusted differences were small, about 0.1 to 0.3 standard deviations.
Moderate evidence: One trial, one city, mixtures only, funded by the UK Food Standards Agency; many comparisons were not significant; food additives, not fragrance.
Children and pregnancy / Other evidence
EU food-safety scientists reviewed the largest UK trial of food colors and sodium benzoate in children and called it 'limited evidence' of a small effect on activity and attention, not seen for both drink mixtures at both ages (3 and 8-9 years).
Moderate evidence: Agency opinion on one trial; the primary numbers are graded on the McCann 2007 page. Panel also lists inconsistency across age, sex, mixture and observer type.
Children and pregnancy / Other evidence
The trial gave children 4-20% of the acceptable daily intake of each color (sodium benzoate 36-60%), and the Panel judged such exposures plausible for children eating brightly colored sweets or drinking brightly colored soft drinks.
Moderate evidence: Exposure estimates rest on unpublished Irish survey data and maximum-level scenarios; Panel could not estimate the share of children exposed to a combination on any given day.
Children and pregnancy / Other evidence
In a UK/US assisted-conception study (815 families), smoking in pregnancy was linked to higher child ADHD symptoms when the mother was genetically related to the child, but not when she was unrelated (egg or embryo donation, surrogacy), while the lower-birth-weight link held in both groups.
Moderate evidence: Maternal report of both smoking and ADHD; only 9 exposed unrelated children, so low power; a small prenatal effect cannot be ruled out; ART families may be unusual.
Source: Thapar 2009, Biological Psychiatry Link to this fact
Children and pregnancy / Other evidence
In a Swedish study of about 19,300 9-year-old twins, ADHD diagnoses on the national register rose more than fivefold from 2004 to 2014 (0.39% to 2.01%), while parent-rated ADHD symptoms at the diagnostic level did not significantly change (about 2.3% in 2004, 3.2% in 2014).
Moderate evidence: Single Swedish twin cohort, parent-rated screen with moderate sensitivity; authors call for replication; diagnostic-level estimate has wide CIs.
Source: Rydell et al. 2018, J Child Psychol Psychiatry, Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry Link to this fact
Children and pregnancy / Other evidence
Rising counts of ADHD diagnoses are not by themselves evidence that more children have ADHD or that new exposures are causing it: in Sweden the diagnosis rate rose fivefold while the extreme-end symptom rate stayed roughly flat.
Moderate evidence: Does not show chemicals have no effect on individual children's ADHD risk; the study did not test causes of the diagnosis rise; milder symptom levels did rise slightly.
Source: Rydell et al. 2018, J Child Psychol Psychiatry, Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry Link to this fact
Children and pregnancy / Other evidence
The 2021 World Federation of ADHD consensus describes environmental risk factors for ADHD, including lead, as 'correlates' rather than causes, because associations may reflect correlated genetic and environmental effects.
Moderate evidence: The consensus is not itself a causal analysis; it relays other studies without its own risk-of-bias grading.
Source: Faraone 2021, Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews Link to this fact
Children and pregnancy / Other evidence
The ADHD consensus reports that the link between smoking in pregnancy and ADHD (more than 50% higher incidence in three meta-analyses) disappears after adjusting for family history of ADHD, pointing to shared familial or genetic factors.
Moderate evidence: Relayed statement; shows why unadjusted exposure-ADHD associations can mislead.
Source: Faraone 2021, Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews Link to this fact
Children and pregnancy / Other evidence
The ADHD consensus found null results for PFAS in breast milk (4,826 mother-child pairs, 9 European studies), sugar intake (7 studies, over 25,000) and, in one meta-analysis, particulate matter and nitrogen oxides.
Moderate evidence: Null in specific meta-analyses is not proof of safety; air pollution results across other cohorts were mixed.
Source: Faraone 2021, Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews Link to this fact
Children and pregnancy / Other evidence
In the 2022 US National Survey of Children's Health, 11.4% of children aged 3-17 (about 7.1 million) had ever been told by a health provider that they had ADHD, up from 9.8% in 2016-2019.
Moderate evidence: Figures relayed by a commentary on the CDC report, not a primary analysis; parent-reported diagnosis, unverified; a rise in diagnosis is not a rise in the trait.
Source: Chronis-Tuscano 2024, Journal of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology Link to this fact
Children and pregnancy / Other evidence
In the 2022 US survey, 30.1% of children with current ADHD received no treatment (23% in 2016), and adolescents and children in non-English-speaking households were least likely to be treated.
Moderate evidence: Parent-reported, relayed second-hand from the CDC report.
Source: Chronis-Tuscano 2024, Journal of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology Link to this fact
Children and pregnancy / Other evidence
In 148 California infants from families with an older autistic child, phthalate and paraben markers were already measurable in urine at 3 to 6 months of age; MEP (the marker for the fragrance solvent diethyl phthalate) had a median of 8.9 ng/mL and was detected in 97%.
Moderate evidence: High-ASD-risk cohort, not representative; MEP cannot be traced to fragrance in this paper; no product-use data.
Source: Sotelo-Orozco 2024, International Journal of Hygiene and Environmental Health Link to this fact
Children and pregnancy / Other evidence
In a 2019-2022 Riyadh pregnancy cohort of 672 women, urinary MEP (the breakdown product of diethyl phthalate, a fragrance and personal-care solvent) was found in every sample, with a median of about 213 ug/L across pregnancy, several-fold above US and European surveys.
Moderate evidence: One hospital clinic in Saudi Arabia; spot urine; perfume and cosmetic use was reported by participants but not analyzed, so MEP cannot be tied to fragrance specifically.
Source: Al-Saleh 2024, International Journal of Hygiene and Environmental Health Link to this fact
Children and pregnancy / Other evidence
In this cohort a single urine sample poorly describes pregnancy-long phthalate exposure: within a trimester, repeat samples agreed well (ICC mostly above 0.8), but across pregnancy reproducibility was poor to moderate (MEP ICC 0.56; MiBP 0.07).
Moderate evidence: One cohort; spot samples without a 24-hour reference; ICC differs by metabolite.
Source: Al-Saleh 2024, International Journal of Hygiene and Environmental Health Link to this fact
Children and pregnancy / Other evidence
In national parent surveys, the share of US children aged 3-17 who had ever been diagnosed with a mental, behavioral or developmental disorder rose from 25.3% in 2016 to 27.7% in 2021, led by anxiety, depression, learning disability, developmental delay and speech/language disorders.
Moderate evidence: Parent-reported lifetime diagnosis in the CDC/HRSA National Survey of Children's Health (n=193,877); response rates 37-43%; shows diagnosis, not exposure or cause.
Source: Leeb 2024, Preventing Chronic Disease Link to this fact
Children and pregnancy / Other evidence
ADHD diagnosis (about 10% of US children in parent surveys) did not show a statistically significant rise over 2016-2021: 9.9% to 10.6%, annual change 1.3% (95% CI -0.6 to 3.4).
Moderate evidence: Parent-reported lifetime diagnosis, linear trend over six survey years; a non-significant trend is not proof of no change, and the survey cannot separate awareness from incidence.
Source: Leeb 2024, Preventing Chronic Disease Link to this fact
Children and pregnancy / Other evidence
Parents of US children with a mental, behavioral or developmental diagnosis reported fair or poor mental health about 2.5 times as often as other parents (14.7% vs 5.7%), and about 40% of those children got no mental or developmental services in a year.
Moderate evidence: Cross-sectional parent report; the paper says direction of causality cannot be determined.
Source: Leeb 2024, Preventing Chronic Disease Link to this fact
Children and pregnancy / Other evidence
About 14 million U.S. school days a year are lost to asthma (EPA figure quoted by the review), and about 4.5 million U.S. children (6.5%) have asthma (CDC).
Moderate evidence: Counts asthma-related absence in general; the review's Abstract words it as caused by poor IAQ, which the body does not support.
Children and pregnancy / Other evidence
The authors of a 2026 infant eye-tracking study of prenatal parabens conclude only that parabens were associated with changes in infant cognition that differ by sex, domain and single-versus-mixture analysis; they do not conclude that parabens harm infant cognition.
Moderate evidence: Paraphrase of the authors' own hedged conclusion; the study cannot show causation.
Source: Cragoe 2026, Environmental Epidemiology Link to this fact
Children and pregnancy / Other evidence
In 328 Finnish pregnant women, every woman had at least one paraben (a cosmetic and food preservative) in her early-pregnancy urine, and methylparaben was detected in all of them.
Moderate evidence: One Finnish cohort enriched for preeclampsia and growth-restriction risk factors; single spot urine; says nothing about health effects. Parabens are not fragrance ingredients.
Source: Mäkinen 2026, Environment International Link to this fact
Children and pregnancy / Other evidence
In a UK trial of 277 3-year-olds, parents rated their child's hyperactive behavior as worse in the week the child took a drink with four synthetic food colors (20 mg) plus 45 mg sodium benzoate than in the placebo week (about 0.5 standard deviations by the authors' calculation); a food-additive finding, not a fragrance one.
Moderate evidence.
Caveats
One small single-group trial from the Southampton team that also ran McCann 2007; effect found only on parent ratings, borderline after adjustment (p < 0.05, F(1,550) = 3.9), 30% dropout, funded by the UK Food Standards Agency with SmithKline Beecham supplying challenge materials; a mixture, so no single additive can be named.
Source: Bateman 2004, Archives of Disease in Childhood Link to this fact
Information, not medical advice. See also: myths we won’t tell you.