Plastic chemical may up miscarriage risk: study

High levels of a chemical found in many household plastics could dramatically increase the risk of miscarriage, a new study has warned.
Scientists said pregnant women should avoid canned foods, microwaved food and plastic water bottles left out in the Sun as chemicals leak far more quickly at higher temperatures.
Researchers from Stanford University studied 114 pregnant women who had a history of miscarriages and difficulties conceiving.
They found that those with the highest concentrations of the chemical bisphenol-A (BPA) in their blood were 80 per cent more likely than those with low or normal levels to suffer a miscarriage.

"This is important because miscarriage is a very common occurrence and human exposure to BPA is near-ubiquitous," said lead author Dr Ruth Lathi, reproductive endocrinologist at Stanford University.
Researchers said it remained unclear why BPA appeared to have such an impact on miscarriage rates, and said further studies were urgently needed, 'The Telegraph' reported from Boston.

While those who were most likely to miscarry had the highest level of the chemical in their blood serum, it was possible that they had metabolised the substance differently, so it stayed in the body longer, they said.
"There are some simple things that people can do but it's impossible to avoid it completely. Avoid anything that involves cooking or warming food in plastic as the chemicals leak out of plastic materials at a higher rate at higher temperatures," Lathi said.

Even shopping posed a risk, she suggested, because many cash register receipts are coded with resin containing BPA.
The chemical has previously been found to carry small risks to child development, and has been banned in baby bottles by the European Union.
The study was presented at the American Society for Reproductive Medicine's conference in Boston.