Overview
- Researchers analyzing the Barwon Infant Study report that higher estimated DEHP exposure in late pregnancy was associated with increased parent‑reported autism- and ADHD-related symptoms in children at ages two and four.
- The team measured DEHP from a single late‑pregnancy urine sample and DNA methylation in umbilical cord blood, identifying a 531‑gene network whose methylation patterns statistically mediated roughly 21 percent of the link.
- Effects were stronger in boys in this analysis, but the study relied on one urine sample as a proxy for prenatal exposure and used questionnaire-based symptom screens rather than clinical diagnoses.
- Authors and outside experts say the results provide a biologically plausible epigenetic pathway but stress the study is observational and cannot prove that DEHP causes neurodevelopmental conditions.
- Because DEHP is widespread and nearly all study mothers had measurable exposure, researchers call for replication, better exposure measures, longer follow-up, mechanistic work, and consideration of policies to protect pregnant people and infants.