Perinatal Exposure to a Mixture of Common Low-Dose Phthalates and Flame Retardants Leads to Autistic Features in Rats
10:00 am US Eastern Time
Slides & Resources
Speaker presentation slides:
Dr. Degroote: Autistic features linked to prenatal exposure to fire retardants and phthalates (PDF)
Additional resources of interest:
Paper: Behaviorial alterations in rats prenatally exposed to valproic acid: Animal model of autism
Paper: Autistic-like traits in Lewis rats exposed perinatally to a mixture of common endocrine disruptors
Previous calls hosted by the CHE EDCs Strategies Group: To see a full list of past calls in the series and listen to the MP3 recordings please visit the CHE Endocrine Distrupting Chemicals webpage.
Exposure during pregnancy to a combination of flame retardants (PBDE-47 and PBDE-99) and phthalates (DEHP, DBP, DiNP), can contribute to autistic-like behaviors in the offspring.
Phthalates and brominated fire retardants are known endocrine disruptors, and present in average homes. Phthalates are common additives in many household plastic products, and flame retardants are on most furniture foam cushions.
Degroote and her colleagues found that the pups exposed to the chemical mixture showed behaviors similar to those seen in humans with autism spectrum disorders; and similar to the positive control group of autistic features in rats induced by valproic acid.
Featured Speaker
Stéphanie Degroote is a third year PhD student in the University of Sherbrooke, QC, under the supervision of Larissa Takser, MD, PhD, and Darel Hunting, PhD. She obtained bachelor degree in Animal Physiology and Neurosciences at the University of Poitiers (France), and her Master Degree in Public Health and Health System Organization at Timone University (Marseille, France).
This half-hour teleconference call is one in a monthly series sponsored by the Collaborative on Health and the Environment’s EDC Strategies Group.The CHE EDC Strategies Group is chaired by Carol Kwiatkowski (TEDX), Sharyle Patton (Commonweal), and Genon Jensen (HEAL). To see a full list of past calls in the series and listen to the MP3 recordings please visit the CHE Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals webpage.
The call was moderated by Sharyle Patton, Director, Commonweal Biomonitoring Resource Center. The call was recorded for archival purposes.
