Plasticizers cause diabetes and obesity

Diabetes and obesity are on the increase: chemical softeners complicit

21/03/2012

The number of people afflicted with obesity and diabetes has grown rapidly in the world over the last decade. A meta-study commissioned by the environmental organization BUND has determined that it is not just unhealthy eating habits and physical inactivity that increase the risk of diabetes and obesity, but so-called softener substances that are contained in numerous plastic and food products.

Especially pregnant women, children and adolescents at risk
Plasticizers and other chemically produced substances are suspected, according to a study by the BUND, to promote extreme overweight (obesity) and diabetes. Researchers evaluated the data from a total of 240 studies that were produced in recent years. „Exposure to chemicals such as bisphenol A in the womb has led to increased weight gain and insulin resistance in experimental animals“, said the chemical expert of the environmental group Sarah Häuser. In this context, houses demanded that politicians provide better protection for sensitive groups of people, such as the chronically ill, expectant mothers and children. The extent of plasticiser damage is determined by the time of the contamination, according to environmentalists. „While stress can have no effect on the adult, serious effects are possible, especially in sensitive stages of development, such as pregnancy and early childhood, e.g. impairment of reproductive ability, brain development or immune system disorders.“, write the scientists. The fatal: some of these injuries only show up when adulthood is reached. Then prove a context in hindsight, is almost impossible.

Massive increase in obesity and diabetes
According to the latest survey in 2010, around 33 million people in the European Union suffered from the chronic metabolic disease diabetes. According to an estimate by the International Diabetes Federation (IDF), the number of diabetic patients will rise to 37 million over the next 20 years. Germany is one of the EU countries with the highest diabetes rate. Around six million diabetics suffer from severe metabolic disease in Germany alone. The Federal Statistical Office assumes that for the treatment of diabetic patients, a sum of about 6.35 billion euros annually must be applied. This represents 2.5 percent of total health care expenditure.

Plasticizer substances increase the risk of diabetes
„Against this background, the question must be asked whether all the factors that led to the global increase in these health impairments have already been taken into account“, argue the BUND experts. Current research clearly shows that man-made chemicals have led to increases in obesity and diabetes, according to the researchers' overall assessment. While obesity is considered a risk factor for diabetes, many research studies indicate that chemical substances in everyday objects themselves lead to diabetes. „The epidemiological evidence for a link between exposure to chemicals and diabetes is even stronger than that between exposure to chemicals and obesity.“, write the scientists in the study. Particularly hormonally similar substances are suspected to be a risk for the development of diabetes and obesity, the researchers said. Every day, people come into contact with artificially produced substances that hide in all sorts of products and food. Often find Bisphenol-A and so-called flame retardants in plastic toys, receipts, PVC floors, food cans and baby bottles. Although the addition of bisphenol-A to baby plastic bottles was banned in 2011, the industry continues to use chemicals that could be just as dangerous. Superficially, plasticizers are used by manufacturers to make plastics such as PVC supple.

Federal Institute for Risk Assessment sees no acute reason for action
For the Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR), the current study data does not appear to be a cause for particular concern. Although the studies examined are known there as well, they do not give any concrete clue to correct the maximum values. Although in a major US study „a correlation between bisphenol-A and the onset of diabetes has been found, but causality is not yet proven“, explained the spokeswoman for the state institute Suzan Fiack. In addition, the authors of the study work themselves had pointed out that a causality can not be confirmed properly. Nevertheless, in an evaluation of the 2008 study results, the BfR had demanded that there be further research needs on this topic. The toxicologist Prof. dr. Gilbert Schönfelder at the Berlin University Hospital Charité stressed that as causes „So far, primarily wrong diet and lack of exercise were“. But the new studies point to it, „that the burden of hormonal pollutants could have an important and previously underestimated share of it“.

Regulation of hormonal pollutants required
The BUND sums up that numerous laboratory and animal experiments as well as a number of epidemiological studies suggest that exposure to artificially manufactured chemicals plays an important role in the development of obesity and diabetes. These include many substances that people inevitably come into contact with each day. Many of these substances are hormonal pollutants. These already have a detrimental effect on human health even at low doses. Particularly vulnerable are unborn children in the womb. But also in children, adolescents and adults, the risk of obesity and diabetes could be increased. The BUND therefore demands from the black-yellow federal government to promote regulation of hormonal pollutants across Germany and the EU to better protect people. (Sb)

Also read:
Plasticizers cause diabetes and obesity
Pesticides and softeners threaten rivers
Harmful chemicals in textiles
BUND: Increased plasticizer load in day nurseries
Bisphenol-A causes infertility in women
Environmentalists: BPA ban completely inadequate
Bisphenol A makes girls hyperactive and aggressive
Ban on bisphenol-A in baby bottles
Lobbyists prevent Bisphenol-A ban
Study: Girls getting sexually mature sooner
Hormone-active chemicals threaten health

Image: Bund, gde.de