Researchers at the annual meeting Pediatric Academic Societies have reported a disturbing link between maternal exposure to certain solvent compounds and an increased risk of congenital heart disease, reports Med Page Today.
Scientists examined samples of meconium – the earliest stools of the infant, which is composed of materials ingested during the time the infant spends in uterus – using samples from 135 infants born with heart malformations and from 432 in the unaffected control group.
Researchers found solvents in 82 percent of the meconium samples from infants with heart disease, with concentrations varying 10-fold to 1,000-fold. Before adjustment for race and family history, these chemicals were found more commonly in the affected: ethylbenzene, benzene, TCA and DCA, and m-xylene, p-xylem and o-xylene.
"The association between congenital heart disease and fetal ethylbenzene exposure is novel and important for public health, with sources ranging from petroleum and coal refining, motor vehicle exhaust, and tobacco smoke," said Dr Gail McCarver.
"But these data should not be interpreted as suggesting that ethylbenzene causes congenital heart disease. This was a novel finding, no one has reported it before, and there are no corroborating animal data. It’s an association and merits further study," she added.