Browse evidence-based analysis of health-related claims and assertions
When little kids are exposed to higher levels of certain chemicals found in everyday products — especially when many of them are high at once — they’re more likely to show increasing hyperactivity as they grow.
Some chemicals we're exposed to might be linked to hyperactivity in young kids — some could make it more likely, others less, and it depends on the specific chemical.
Kids exposed to several hormone-disrupting chemicals at once are more likely to show high levels of hyperactivity as they grow, with the risk more than doubling compared to lower exposures.
Even though higher levels of plastic chemicals are linked to more impulsive mistakes on tests, doctors don’t see the overall ADHD symptoms as being worse in these kids.
The same plastic chemical that affects impulsivity doesn’t seem to affect how well kids with ADHD notice or remember things they see.
Every time the level of a certain plastic chemical in the urine doubles, kids with ADHD make about eight times more impulsive mistakes on a visual attention test.
Levels of BPA, BPF, and BPS in the urine don’t seem to be linked to how kids with ADHD perform on attention or impulse control tests.
Kids with ADHD who have more of a certain plastic-related chemical in their bodies tend to make more impulsive mistakes when doing visual attention tests, like clicking when they shouldn’t.
In a group of people from Michigan exposed to a chemical called PBB-153, their body levels of this chemical weren’t linked to another similar group of chemicals (PCBs), meaning they’re likely coming from different sources and can be studied separately.
Women in Michigan who were exposed to a chemical called PBB years ago report having ADHD more often than usual—about 1 in 9—so researchers wonder if the exposure might be linked to more ADHD cases or if they're just more aware of it.
Kids who ate contaminated food in the 1970s had much higher levels of a flame retardant in their bodies than babies who were exposed before birth through their mothers.
In a group of moms and kids in Michigan, being exposed to a chemical called PBB-153 during pregnancy didn’t seem to increase the chances of the child being diagnosed with autism — the numbers even leaned slightly toward lower risk, but the results weren’t strong enough to be sure.
People who were exposed to a chemical called PBB-153 as babies or before birth — because of a pollution incident in Michigan in 1973 — were no more likely to be diagnosed with ADHD as kids or adults than those with less exposure.
A study looked at 25 chemicals during pregnancy and found they affect boys and girls the same when it comes to autism or intellectual disability — there's no difference based on sex.
Chemicals in mom's blood during pregnancy — like those from old electronics or non-stick pans — don’t seem to affect the chances of having a child with autism or intellectual disability, based on how much of them were in the blood.
A study looked at 25 common chemical exposures during pregnancy and found no sign that they — alone or together — affect the chances of a child developing autism or intellectual disability.
Being exposed to certain chemicals during pregnancy — like ones found in old flame retardants or non-stick pans — doesn’t seem to raise the chances of a child having intellectual disability, according to this study.
Exposure to certain chemicals during pregnancy, like those found in old electronics or non-stick pans, doesn’t seem to raise the chances of a child having autism, according to a study looking at mom’s blood during pregnancy.
Kids whose moms were exposed to more hormone-disrupting chemicals during pregnancy tend to have slightly more behavioral difficulties, especially boys. The effect is small but shows up more clearly in boys than in girls.
Some chemicals found in plastics and personal care products, when exposed to during pregnancy, are linked to behavior problems in girls by age 7, and a few of them seem to play a bigger role in that link.
If a girl is exposed to certain chemicals while in her mom’s womb, she might be more likely to have behavior issues by age 7. This doesn’t seem to happen the same way in boys.
Being missing a certain gene (GSTT1) doesn’t change how a mom’s exposure to parabens during pregnancy affects her baby’s birth weight, length, or how long she carries the baby.
Pregnant women who have a certain genetic makeup that affects how their body cleans out chemicals might have babies with higher birth weights if they’re exposed to more parabens — common preservatives in cosmetics — during pregnancy.
Pregnant women who have a certain gene change might go into labor a little later if they have more of a chemical called propyl paraben in their bodies, based on what’s found in their urine.