The study, published in JAMA Pediatrics, analyzed data from more than 6,000 pregnant women in the United States. Researchers found that the women who had higher traces of phthalates in their urine were more at risk of a premature birth, typically three or more weeks before the due date.
The samples from these women were collected for over 30 years. Researchers noted that despite their findings that high exposure to phthalates could cause premature births, most of the women in the experiment recorded having dramatically high levels of the harmful chemicals.
