Pregnant woman's exposure to flame retardants can lead to lower IQ in child: Study

Expecting mothers must take note of this. Flame retardant chemicals which are generally used in our furniture and household products have the potential to cause harm to child’s intelligence, causing loss of IQ points, as per a new study.

Researchers of University of California conducted a study which was published in Environmental Health Perspectives and found out that there is an effect of polybrominated diphenyl ethers’ (PBDE) on the child’s intelligence.

The study was conducted on about 3,000 mother-child pairs from around the world. The study revealed some shocking facts as for every ten fold rise in the mother’s PBDE level, there was a drop of 3.7 IQ points in the child.

Though a 3.7 point decrease in the IQ of the child, won’t sound as if it is huge but when we consider it on a global level, it only means there are more number of children who are in need of early interventions.

 There are so many people who face exposure to high levels of PBDEs. However, it has been noted that the more a pregnant woman is exposed to PBDE, the lower her child’s IQ will be.

Researchers have indicated that there is some sort of connection between PDBE exposures and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). They have said that more studies are required to characterize the relationship in a better way.

Although there are bans, but still most of the people are exposed to various PBDE flame retardants. It is the children who face the highest amount of risk.