In a press release of November 18, 2013 the chemical industry association American Chemistry Council (ACC) points to risk factors for premature births not considered in the recent study linking phthalates to prematurity. The new study, previously reported on by the FPF, observed that women with high phthalate levels had increased odds of giving birth prematurely (Fergusen et al. 2013). The ACC comments that current human exposure levels are below regulatory limit values and that the present study does not assess other established risk factors of premature births, including poor nutrition, gestational diabetes, history of miscarriages and stress. Further, the ACC criticizes the limited sample size of the study. The association suggests comparing the data to the U.S. National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) in order to ensure representativeness.

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American Chemistry Council (November 20, 2013). “Study Leaves Out Important Risk Factors When Claiming Relationship Between Phthalate DEHP and Preterm Birth.

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