Background: Personal care products are a source of exposure to potentially endocrine disrupting chemicals such as phthalates, parabens, triclosan, and benzophenone-3 (BP-3) for adolescent girls.

Methods: We enrolled 100 Latina girls in a youth-led, community-based participatory research intervention study to determine whether using personal care products whose labels stated they did not contain these chemicals for three days could lower urinary concentrations. Pre- and post-intervention urine samples were analyzed for phthalate metabolites, parabens, triclosan and BP-3 using high-performance liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry. ...

Discussion: This study demonstrates that techniques available to consumers, such as choosing personal care products that are labelled to be free of phthalates, parabens, triclosan, and BP-3, can reduce personal exposure to possible endocrine disrupting chemicals. Involving youth in the design and implementation of the study was key to recruitment, retention, compliance, and acceptability of the intervention.

Exposure to common air pollutants during pregnancy may predispose children to problems regulating their thoughts, emotions, and behaviors later on, according to a new study led by researchers at the Columbia Center for Children's Environmental Health within Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health and New York State Psychiatric Institute. The new study is the first of its kind to examine the effects of early life exposure to a common air pollutant known as PAH (polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons) on self-regulating behaviors and social competency that incorporates multiple assessment points across childhood. Children with poor self-regulation skills have difficulty managing disruptive thoughts, emotions, and impulses; poor social competency limits their ability to get along with others. The findings appear in the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry.