SynthesisEnvironment international2020
Phthalate exposure and neurodevelopment: A systematic review and meta-analysis of human epidemiological evidence.
Synthesis in Environment international, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 104 papers, 10 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
104 citing papers in PubMed, 10 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 234 citations in OpenAlex.
- Sex-dependent vulnerability to early-life phthalates exposure and autism spectrum disorders: a systematic review.Frontiers in child and adolescent psychiatry · 2026Pooled it
- Environmental pollutants as risk factors for autism spectrum disorders: a systematic review and meta-analysis of cohort studies.BMC public health · 2024Pooled it
- An Umbrella Review of Meta-Analyses Evaluating Associations between Human Health and Exposure to Major Classes of Plastic-Associated Chemicals.Annals of global health · 2024Pooled it
- Phthalate Exposure and Neurotoxicity in Children: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.International journal of public health · 2024Pooled it
- Sex differences in children's cognitive functions and phthalates exposure: a meta-analysis.Pediatric research · 2023Pooled it
- Association between phthalate exposure and insulin resistance: a systematic review and meta-analysis update.Environmental science and pollution research international · 2021Pooled it
- Association between prenatal phthalate exposure and gestational metabolic syndrome parameters: a systematic review of epidemiological studies.Environmental science and pollution research international · 2021Pooled it
- Green Space and Health Equity: A Systematic Review on the Potential of Green Space to Reduce Health Disparities.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021Pooled it
- Hazards of diethyl phthalate (DEP) exposure: A systematic review of animal toxicology studies.Environment international · 2020Pooled it
- An Actual Natural Setting Improves Mood Better Than Its Virtual Counterpart: A Meta-Analysis of Experimental Data.Frontiers in psychology · 2020Pooled it
- A robust and validated method for the determination of 21 urinary metabolites of 15 plasticizers, including phthalates, DEHTP, and DINCH, by online SPE and liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry.Analytical and bioanalytical chemistry · 2026Article
- Pollutant Burden in Autism Spectrum Disorder: Mechanistic Convergence, Genetic Susceptibility, and Clinical Translation.Current issues in molecular biology · 2026Review
- Associations of Exposure to Common Plasticizers and Organophosphate Pesticides during Pregnancy and in Childhood with Cognitive Performance in Adolescents: A Population-Based Study.Environmental science & technology · 2026Article
- Prenatal and childhood exposure to common plasticizers in relation to emotional and behavioral development through adolescence.The Science of the total environment · 2026Article
- Prenatal phthalate exposure and emotional-behavioral problems in children aged 1.5 to 3 years from the PROTECT birth cohort.Journal of exposure science & environmental epidemiology · 2026Article
- Paraben and Phthalate Exposure in Adolescents With Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder: A Case-Control Study.Psychiatry investigation · 2026Article
- Early life phthalate and replacement plasticizer exposures and changes in early childhood brain functional connectivity and structural morphology.Environment international · 2026Article
- Prenatal phthalate exposure and neurodevelopmental delay in early childhood (1 to 3 years): An Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) study.Environment international · 2026Article
- Perinatal exposure to the environmental pollutant butyl benzyl phthalate (BBP) induces sex-specific alterations in the neuro-immune-endocrine network in adult rats.Frontiers in immunology · 2026Article
- Identifying dietary and daily product-use patterns explaining joint variation in multiple urinary phthalate metabolites via sparse reduced-rank regression.Frontiers in nutrition · 2026Article
44 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
objectiveWe performed a systematic review of the epidemiology literature to identify the neurodevelopmental effects associated with phthalate exposure. DATA SOURCES AND STUDY ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA: Six phthalates were included in the review: di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP), diisononyl phthalate (DINP), dibutyl phthalate (DBP), diisobutyl phthalate (DIBP), butyl benzyl phthalate (BBP), and diethyl phthalate (DEP). The initial literature search (of PubMed, Web of Science, and Toxline) included all studies of neurodevelopmental effects in humans, and outcomes were selected for full systematic review based on data availability. STUDY EVALUATION AND SYNTHESIS
methodsStudies of neurodevelopmental effects were evaluated using criteria defined a priori for risk of bias and sensitivity by two reviewers using a domain-based approach. Evidence was synthesized by outcome and phthalate and strength of evidence was summarized using a structured framework. For studies of cognition and motor effects in children ≤4 years old, a random effects meta-analysis was performed.
resultsThe primary outcomes reviewed here are (number of studies in parentheses): cognition (14), motor effects (9), behavior, including attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (20), infant behavior (3), and social behavior, including autism spectrum disorder (7). For each phthalate/outcome combination, there was slight or indeterminate evidence of an association, with the exception of motor effects for BBP, which had moderate evidence. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS OF KEY
findingsOverall, there is not a clear pattern of association between prenatal phthalate exposures and neurodevelopment. There are several possible reasons for the observed null associations related to exposure misclassification, periods of heightened susceptibility, sex-specific effects, and the effects of phthalate mixtures. Until these limitations are adequately addressed in the epidemiology literature, these findings should not be interpreted as evidence that there are no neurodevelopmental effects of phthalate exposure. The views expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views or policies of the U.S. EPA.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.