Can prenatal phthalate exposure affect your child's thinking skills and fluid intelligence?

What's actually in it

Phthalates from plastics, personal care products, and food packaging cross the placenta during pregnancy. They affect the baby's developing brain by disrupting hormone signaling and brain cell communication. Fluid cognition, the ability to solve new problems and think on your feet, is one of the brain functions most sensitive to chemical disruption.

What the research says

A 2026 study in Neurotoxicol Teratol measured prenatal phthalate exposure and tested children's fluid cognition using advanced modeling. The researchers found that higher prenatal phthalate exposure was linked to lower fluid cognition scores. The overall exposure burden from multiple phthalate types mattered more than any single chemical.

Fluid cognition affects a child's ability to learn new things, adapt to challenges, and perform well in school. Even small decreases across millions of exposed children represent a large societal impact.

During pregnancy, use fragrance-free products, store food in glass, and avoid soft PVC plastics. These steps lower the phthalate mixture reaching your baby's brain.