Can phthalate exposure during pregnancy affect social skills and behavior in teenagers?

What's actually in it

Phthalates from plastics, fragrance products, and personal care items cross the placenta and disrupt sex hormone and thyroid signaling during fetal brain development. The social brain, the neural circuits involved in reading social cues, empathy, and group behavior, develops across a long window from fetal life through adolescence.

Most research on prenatal phthalate effects focuses on young children. Following children into adolescence reveals whether effects persist or worsen as social demands increase during the teen years.

What the research says

A 2026 birth cohort study in Sci Total Environ tracked gestational phthalate exposure and assessed social skills and behavioral problems in adolescents. Higher prenatal phthalate levels predicted lower social skills scores and higher rates of problem behaviors during the teenage years.

The associations were specific to gestational exposure, not concurrent adolescent exposure, confirming that the developmental window during pregnancy sets up long-term social brain function. Phthalate-exposed adolescents showed difficulties in social interaction and higher rates of both internalizing (anxiety, withdrawal) and externalizing (aggression, rule-breaking) problems.

These effects lasting into adolescence matter practically: social difficulties in the teenage years affect peer relationships, academic performance, and mental health in ways that compound with age.

The main phthalate exposure routes during pregnancy are fragrance-containing personal care products (perfume, scented lotion, air fresheners, scented cleaning products) and flexible plastic food packaging. Fragrance-free personal care products and glass or stainless food containers address the highest-exposure sources.