New ‘high safety’ chemicals in plastic food packaging linked to lower birth weight, study finds
Why This Matters
Key context: <p>Dinch, an allegedly ‘safe’ alternative, used in the EU and US also found to cause fetal development complications</p><p>Exposure to a new generation of allegedly “safe” plasticizers is linked to lower birth weight and fetal development complications, which could cause serious health problems later in life, a new <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160412026005064">peer-reviewed study</a> found.</p><p>As the health risks in exposure to common phthalate plasticizers became clear over the last few decades, industry began switching to a new type of chemical, called Dinch, that it <a href="https://www.basf.com/dam/jcr:604f22b7-f356-3e8c-b9e1-bcd2c9c1a470/basf/www/kr/documents/ko/product/2017_HexamollDINCH_en.pdf">claimed was a “high safety”</a>, nontoxic alternative. It is widely used in soft plastic food packaging in the United States and European Union, and is found in children’s toys, medical devices, some textiles, flooring and other consumer goods.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/nov/07/nontoxic-plastic-lower-birth-weight-study">Continue reading...</a> This development from The Guardian highlights ongoing changes in the sector.
Dinch, an allegedly ‘safe’ alternative, used in the EU and US also found to cause fetal development complicationsExposure to a new generation of allegedly “safe” plasticizers is linked to lower birth weight and fetal development complications, which could cause serious health problems later in life, a new peer-reviewed study found.As the health risks in exposure to common phthalate plasticizers became clear over the last few decades, industry began switching to a new type of chemical, called Dinch, that it claimed was a “high safety”, nontoxic alternative. It is widely used in soft plastic food packaging in the United States and European Union, and is found in children’s toys, medical devices, some textiles, flooring and other consumer goods. Continue reading...
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