Study finds widespread exposure to hormone-disrupting chemical during pregnancy
A study published in the Journal of Exposure Science and Environmental Epidemiology has found nearly all pregnant women ingest the fungal toxin zearalenone (ZEN), which mimics estrogen in the body and hinders reproduction in some animals.
Researchers from Rutgers and the University of Rochester detected ZEN or its metabolites in 97 percent of urine samples from pregnant women and 84 percent of placentas.
To study exposure levels during pregnancy, the researchers collected urine samples from 317 women in Rochester, N.Y. They also gathered 271 placenta samples and asked study participants about lifestyle choices, such as their typical diets.
Women with higher body mass indexes and those who had previously given birth tended to have higher ZEN levels in their urine.
Diet also affected exposure. Women with healthier diets, particularly those eating more protein and vegetables, had lower exposure levels. Diets higher in ultra-processed foods were associated with increased ZEN concentrations.
“For every 1 percent higher ultra-processed food consumption, there was a higher exposure to mycoestrogen,” said lead author Carolyn Kinkade, who studied zearalenone for her PhD thesis in the Rutgers School of Graduate Studies Exposure Science program.
The study appears amid increasing concerns about endocrine-disrupting chemicals in the environment. Unlike many of those other chemicals, ZEN has long been found in our food, but exposure may be increasing because of modern food production and climate change.
