Daily exposure to certain chemicals used to manufacture household plastics may be connected to more than 356,000 cardiovascular-related deaths in 2018 alone, a new analysis has found.
These chemicals, called phthalates, are present in products around the world but have particular popularity in the Middle East, South Asia, East Asia and the Pacific — regions that collectively bore about 75 percent of the global death total, according to the research, published on Tuesday in the Lancet eBioMedicine.
“Our findings add to the vast body of evidence that these chemicals present a tremendous danger to human health,” lead author Sara Hyman, an associate research scientist at New York University’s Grossman School of Medicine, said in a statement.
Phthalates, often used in personal care products, children’s toys and food packaging and processing materials, are known to disrupt hormone function and have been linked to birth defects, infertility, learning disabilities and neurological disorders.
The NYU Langone Health team focused in the analysis on a kind of phthalate called di-2-ethylhexyl phthalate (DEHP), which is used to make items like food containers and medical equipment softer and more flexible.
Scientists have already shown that exposure to DEHP can trigger an overactive immune response in the heart’s arteries, which over time can be linked to increased risk of heart attack or stroke.
In the new analysis, the researchers estimated that DEHP exposure played a role in 356,238 global deaths in 2018, or nearly 13.5 percent of heart disease mortality among men and women ages 55 through 64.
These findings are in line with the team’s previous research, which in 2021 determined that phthalates were connected to more than 50,000 premature deaths each year among older Americans — most of whom succumbed to heart conditions.
But this latest analysis is likely the first global estimate of cardiovascular mortality resulting from exposure to these environmental contaminants, according to Hyman.
To draw their conclusions, the scientists used health and environmental data from dozens of population surveys across 200 countries and territories. Some of the information included urine samples, which contained byproducts of DEHP’s breakdown.
The researchers said they then obtained mortality data from the Institute for Health and Evaluation, a U.S. research group that collects medical information to identify global public health trends.
Ultimately, the authors found that losses in the combined regions of South Asia and the Middle East and of East Asia and the Pacific were responsible for about 42 percent and 31 percent of these deaths, respectively.
At an individual country level, India had the highest death count, with 103,587 mortalities, followed by China and Indonesia, the results showed.
One possible explanation for the findings is that these nations face greater rates of exposure to these chemicals, due to both a surge in plastic production and looser manufacturing restrictions in comparison to those of other regions.
“There is a clear disparity in which parts of the world bear the brunt of heightened heart risks from phthalates,” senior author Leonardo Trasande, a professor of pediatrics at NYU’s Grossman School of Medicine, said in a statement.
“Our results underscore the urgent need for global regulations to reduce exposure to these toxins, especially in areas most affected by rapid industrialization and plastic consumption,” Trasande added.
