Obesity and Diabetes Risks Begin with Exposure to Pollutants in Utero

A 2006 Harvard School of Public Health report observed that the prevalence of obesity in infants under six months had risen 73 percent since 1980. An obese six-month baby is unlikely to be overweight from too many Happy Meals® or soda pop or too few hours on the elliptical trainer. So if it’s not lack of proper nutrition and physical exercise, how do we explain an obesity epidemic among babies and the adults they will become?

The answer appears to be prenatal exposure to industrial pollutants in the environment – chemicals that have been dubbed “obesogens.” University of California biologist Dr. Bruce Blumberg coined the term to describe the industrial chemicals in plastics, food packaging, pesticides and cosmetics that are affecting how babies make fat cells and regulate body weight. Recently Dr. Blumberg was the keynote speaker at the Colby College conference “Chemicals, Obesity and Diabetes.”

Imported directly from the mother in utero, obesogens tell the developing fetus to make more fat cells. Once fat cells are laid down, they remain for life, increasing the likelihood of body fat accumulating as a person ages.

Obesogens are known as endocrine disruptors for their ability to interfere with hormone systems, encouraging the body to store fat and reprogramming cells to become fat cells. They can prompt the liver to become insulin resistant, which makes the pancreas pump out more insulin that turns energy into fat throughout the body. These chemicals can also prevent the release of leptin, the appetite-reducing hormone that tells your body when you’re full.

The obesogen list includes bisphenol-A (BPA), the plastic additive now being phased out of children’s products in Maine, the disinfectant and fungicide tributyltin, diethylhexyl phthalate (DEHP), polyvinyl chloride (PVC) which contains phthalates, pesticides, hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) found in fructose and high fructose corn syrup, and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) found in nonstick cookware, stain resistant fabrics, fast food containers, and fire-fighting foams.

As early as 2006, MERI researchers detected PFOA along with other perfluorinated chemicals and pesticides in the tissues of Gulf of Maine harbor seals. In addition to their role as obesogens, PFCs damage the developing brain and immune system in animals and have cancer-causing potential. MERI’s studies were the first to show that these harmful chemicals are entering the ocean and contaminating our food web. To stop this, we continue to advocate for the restriction of toxics such as PFCs and BPA at the state, regional and international level.

< Back to Newsletter

< Back to Archive