The 'safe' plastic chemical tied to smaller newborns

The study, published in a peer-reviewed journal and led by researchers at NYU Langone Health, analyzed federal US health data covering more than 6,600 pregnancies drawn from the National Institutes of Health's Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes (Echo) Program. Dinch showed up in the urine of up to 70% of the women tested. Higher readings tracked with a greater chance of a baby landing below the 10th percentile for size at its stage of pregnancy, a classification doctors call 'small for gestational age'.

The numbers are hard to shrug off. Every tenfold jump in Dinch exposure came with a 27-gram dip in newborn weight, against an average newborn weight of roughly 3,400 grams. The paper is the first to tie the chemical to lower birth weight and shorter birth length, and the authors warn that fetal growth problems can echo into adolescence and adulthood as heart disease, learning difficulties and obesity. Hispanic mothers and mothers with lower education levels were more likely to see their children affected, according to the study.

Dinch, formally 1,2-cyclohexane dicarboxylic acid diisononyl ester, was sold as the 'high safety', nontoxic replacement for older phthalates as evidence of their hormone-disrupting effects piled up. It now softens cling film, plastic wine corks, children's toys, medical devices, textiles and flooring across the US and EU. German chemical giant BASF is among its major producers, and global output climbed from 25,000 tons in 2002; by 2024 it had reached 400,000 tons.

'Chemicals should be properly tested for their safety before they become a widespread exposure for unwitting people in the general public,' said Leonardo Trasande, a lead author on the NYU paper. He called the findings a 'pretty serious' warning about regrettable substitution — the well-worn pattern of swapping one risky compound for a chemical cousin with similar effects, as happened when Pfoa gave way to GenX. Earlier animal and human cell research suggests Dinch by-products can interfere with the hormones steering fetal development and may trigger inflammation that changes how nutrients and oxygen reach the baby.

The Switzerland-based Food Packaging Forum says it is worried about Dinch and the thin evidence base around it, noting the chemical migrates out of food packaging into food and that levels in the EU population have been climbing. The group is now running its own health research on the substance. Trasande argues the results demand pre-market testing of food-contact chemicals rather than after-the-fact scrutiny, and points to the plastics treaty under negotiation at the United Nations as the moment to set better rules.

For people trying to cut exposure now, the study's practical advice is blunt: buy plastic-free products where possible, including clothing and toys, favor groceries sold in glass, and keep glass or wood storage containers and utensils in the kitchen.