A new study suggests that a chemical used in making plastic household items may have contributed to over 356,000 deaths from heart disease worldwide in 2018.
This chemical, called DEHP, is part of a group known as phthalates and is used to make plastics softer and more flexible.
It is found in many everyday items like food containers, medical equipment, cosmetics, and cleaning products.
Researchers from NYU Langone Health led the study and focused on how DEHP might affect heart health. Previous studies have shown that phthalates can cause inflammation in the arteries, raising the risk of heart attacks and strokes.
In this new study, the team estimated that DEHP exposure was linked to more than 13% of heart disease deaths among adults aged 55 to 64 in 2018.
The study found that the impact of DEHP was not the same across the globe. About 75% of the deaths occurred in the Middle East, South Asia, East Asia, and the Pacific.
India had the highest number of deaths linked to DEHP (over 100,000), followed by China and Indonesia. These regions are believed to have higher levels of exposure due to rapid industrial growth and fewer environmental protections.
The economic cost of these deaths is also alarming. The research team estimated that the worldwide financial burden from DEHP-related heart deaths could be as high as $3.74 trillion.
To conduct the study, researchers used data from population health surveys across 200 countries. These included urine samples that showed chemical traces of DEHP exposure. They then matched this with global death data from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, a U.S.-based group that tracks public health trends.
Study lead author Sara Hyman, a research scientist and graduate student at NYU, said the findings add to growing evidence that phthalates are dangerous to human health. She emphasized that DEHP exposure is not just a local issue but a global one.
Senior author Dr. Leonardo Trasande noted that while this study does not prove that DEHP directly causes heart disease, it shows a strong link. He explained that the study only looked at one type of phthalate and one age group, meaning the true impact is likely even greater.
The researchers now plan to study how reducing DEHP exposure might affect future death rates. They also want to examine how these chemicals impact other health problems, like premature births.
These findings highlight the urgent need for better global rules to limit exposure to harmful plastic chemicals, especially in parts of the world with rapid industrialization. As Trasande put it, the world must act quickly to reduce these risks and protect public health.
If you care about heart health, please read studies that vitamin K helps cut heart disease risk by a third, and a year of exercise reversed worrisome heart failure.
For more health information, please see recent studies about supplements that could help prevent heart disease, stroke, and results showing this food ingredient may strongly increase heart disease death risk.
The study is published in eBioMedicine.
