Attention deficit in children is linked to exposure to phthalates in medical tubing

Phthalates, plasticising agents banned from children’s toys but still used in medical tubing to add flexibility, have been linked to the later development of attention deficit disorders in children admitted to hospital with serious illness, a study published in Intensive Care Medicine has shown.1

The study’s lead researcher, Sören Verstraete, from the University of Leuven, Belgium, presented the results at the US Endocrine Society’s annual meeting, in Boston, Massachusetts, stating, “We found a clear match between previously hospitalised children’s long term neurocognitive test results and their individual exposure to the phthalate …