Baby shampoos, lotions and powders may expose infants to chemicals that have been linked with possible reproductive problems, a small study suggests.

The chemicals, called phthalates, are found in many ordinary products including cosmetics, toys, vinyl flooring and medical supplies. They are used to stabilize fragrances and make plastics flexible.

In the study, they were found in elevated levels in the urine of babies who'd been recently shampooed, powdered or lotioned with baby products.

Phthalates (pronounced thowl-ates) are under attack by some environmental advocacy groups, but experts are uncertain what dangers, if any, they might pose. The federal government doesn't limit their use, although California and some countries have restricted their use.

Animal studies have suggested that phthalates can cause reproductive birth defects and some activists believe they may cause reproductive problems in boys and early puberty in girls.

Rigorous scientific evidence in human studies is lacking. The current study offers no direct evidence that products the infants used contained phthalates, and no evidence that the chemicals in the babies' urine caused any harm. Still, the results worried environmental groups that support restrictions on these chemicals.

"There is an obvious need for laws that force the beauty industry to clean up its act," said Stacy Malkan of Health Care Without Harm.

The study's lead author, Dr. Sheela Sathyanarayana, a University of Washington pediatrician, said, "The bottom line is that these chemicals likely do exist in products that we're commonly using on our children and they potentially could cause health effects."

Babies don't usually need special lotions and powders, and water alone or shampoo in very small amounts is generally enough to clean infant hair, Sathyanarayana said.

Concerned parents can seek products labeled "phthalate-free," or check labels for common phthalates, including DEP and DEHP.

But the chemicals often don't appear on product labels. That's because retail products aren't required to list individual ingredients of fragrances, which are a common phthalate source.

The Food and Drug Administration "has no compelling evidence that phthalates pose a safety risk when used in cosmetics," spokeswoman Stephanie Kwisnek said. "Should new data emerge, we will inform the public as well as the industry."

The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says the health effects in humans are uncertain.

"Although several studies in people have explored possible associations with developmental and reproductive outcomes (semen quality, genital development in boys, shortened pregnancy, and premature breast development in young girls), more research is needed," a 2005 CDC report said.

The new study, which appears in February's issue of the journal Pediatrics, involved 163 babies. Most were white, ages 2 to 28 months and living in California, Minnesota and Missouri.

The researchers measured levels of several phthalates in urine from diapers. They also asked the mothers about use in the previous 24 hours of baby products including lotions, powders, diaper creams and baby wipes.

All urine samples had detectable levels of at least one phthalate, and most had levels of several more. The highest levels were linked with shampoos, lotions and powders, and were most prevalent in babies younger than 8 months.

John Bailey, chief scientist at the Personal Care Products Council, questioned the methods and said the phthalates could have come from diapers, lab materials or other sources.

"Unfortunately, the researchers of this study did not test baby care products for the presence of phthalates or control for other possible routes of exposure," Bailey said.

一項小規模的研究發現：兒童香波，潤膚露和爽身粉，都可能使嬰兒遭受一種可能造成生殖問題的化學物質有關聯。

這是一種叫做鄰苯二甲酸鹽的化學物質，日常用品如化妝品，玩具，塑料地板和醫療用品中都有。它們起到固定香味和使塑料制品更具彈性的作用。

研究發現，這種物質在幼兒的小便中含量偏高，這些幼兒經常使用這些香波，爽身粉或潤膚露等兒童用品。

鄰苯二甲酸鹽遭到一些環保人士的抨擊，如果能造成什么危險，但是專家并不太清楚會造什么危險。聯邦政府沒有禁止使用，盡管加州和一些國家已經嚴厲禁止使用。

動物實驗表明，鄰苯二甲酸鹽能夠引起生殖缺陷，一些積極的反對人士認為他們還可能造成男孩的生殖問題和女孩青春期提前。

人體研究還缺乏嚴格的科學證據。現在的研究提供不出直接的證據兒童用品含有鄰苯二甲酸鹽。也沒有證據表明幼兒小便中的這種化學物質有害。結果還是令環保組織擔心，支持嚴厲禁止這種化學物質。

無害衛生保健的Stacy Malkan 說：“很明顯應該制定法律強制化妝品行業禁止使用該化學物質。”

該項研究的第一作者，華盛頓大學的兒科醫生Sheela Sathyanarayana博士，說：“重要的是這些化學物質好像確實存在這些產品中，我們通常會給我們的孩子們使用，他們可能引起健康問題。”

幼兒通常不需要特別的潤膚露和爽身粉，單單用水或用很少量的香波都足以清潔嬰兒的頭發。

心存疑慮的父母們可以尋求標有“無鄰苯二甲酸鹽”的產品，或檢查標簽有普通鄰苯二甲酸鹽的產品，包括DEP或DEHP.

但是化學物質通常不會出現在產品標簽上。那是因為零售商品通常不要求列出芳香劑的單獨成分，那是鄰苯二甲酸鹽共同的源頭。

美國食品藥品局女發言人斯蒂芬妮.奎斯內克說“沒有令人信服的證據顯示鄰苯二甲酸鹽在化妝品使用中造成安全風險，如果有新的數據出現，我們就會告知公眾和生產企業。”

聯邦疾病控制和預防中心說對人體健康的影響還不太明確。

一份2005年CDC的報告說：“盡管幾項在人體上進行的研究已經表明可能與發育與生殖（精子質量，男孩生殖發育，縮短妊娠，女孩子胸部過早發育）結論有聯系，還需要有進一步的研究”。

新研究發表在二月份的《兒科學》上，，調查了163名嬰兒，多數都是生活在加利福尼亞，明尼蘇達和密蘇里州，年齡在2－28個月大的白人嬰幼兒。

研究者檢測了兒童尿布里的幾種鄰苯二甲酸鹽水平。他們也詢問過母親們關于孩子前24小時內，使用兒童產品包括潤膚露，爽身粉，尿布紅疹乳霜和嬰兒紙巾的情況。

所有的尿樣都能檢測到至少一種鄰苯二甲酸鹽，多數有幾種。含量最高的是香波，潤膚露和爽身粉，這些東西在8個月以下的嬰兒中使用非常普遍。

個人護理用品委員會的首席科學家約翰.貝利，對此提問并且說，鄰苯二甲酸鹽可能來自尿布，實驗室物質或其它來源。

貝利說：“不幸的是，這項研究的研究人員沒有檢測現在的兒童護理產品中的鄰苯二甲酸鹽或其他可能暴露的途徑。”