Plastic products implemented in the NICU have been an ongoing controversy for a long time now. Especially when products that use phthalate, a chemical used to make plastic flexible and durable, have been banned from being used in children toys but not in preemie products used in the NICU.
However, the University of Texas Medical Center at Houston just received a million dollar grant to end this controversy.
According to Hospitals and Health Network, The University of Texas Medical Center will be looking at 1,000 preemies in 15 different locations and how phthalate effects current preemies. The study will also research children who were once preemies in order to see if the chemical has any effect of developmental progression.
Hopefully soon there will be a concrete answer on if plastic products with phthalate is harmful to preemies and child development, which will help continue advancing NICU medicine towards saving more children.
Read more about this million dollar grant here.
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Watch this video describing some of the problems phthalates are causing in children and adults