Dinch exposure correlates with 27-gram lower birth weight

Dinch exposure was associated with 27 grams lower newborn birth weight for each tenfold increase in a peer-reviewed NYU Langone Health study reported Nov. 7.

Evidence grade: Moderate (consistent observational data or small trials). The observational analysis matters because fetal growth problems can be linked to later health risks, while an average newborn weighs about 3,400 grams.

Researchers examined data from over 6,600 pregnancies in the National Institutes of Health Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes Program. Up to 70% of women had Dinch detected in urine, according to the study.

Higher Dinch levels were linked to a greater chance that a child was classified as small for gestational age, meaning below the 10th percentile for babies born at the same point in pregnancy. The study also reported stronger effects among Hispanic mothers and mothers with lower education levels.

“Chemicals should be properly tested for their safety before they become a widespread exposure for unwitting people in the general public,” Leonardo Trasande, a lead author on the NYU paper, said, according to The Guardian Health.

Dinch, formally 1,2-cyclohexane dicarboxylic acid diisononyl ester, is a plasticizer, a chemical added to plastic to make it flexible and durable. It is used in soft plastic food packaging in the U.S. and European Union, and is also found in children’s toys, medical devices, some textiles, flooring, cling film and plastic wine corks.

The chemical was introduced more widely after regulators in the U.S. and EU began acting against some phthalates, including DEHP, in the 2000s. BASF is among major Dinch producers, and global production rose from 25,000 tons in 2002 to 400,000 tons in 2024, according to figures cited by The Guardian Health.

Industry had described Dinch as a “high safety” and nontoxic alternative to older phthalates. The NYU paper challenges that safety assumption, but the observational design means the findings do not establish a causal link between Dinch and lower birth weight.

Previous animal and human-cell research cited by the authors suggests Dinch by-products may interfere with hormones involved in fetal development and may affect inflammation. Those studies can point to possible mechanisms, but they cannot show the same effects occur in pregnant people at real-world exposure levels.

The findings apply most directly to pregnancies represented in the federal U.S. health data. They do not establish risk for every consumer product, every exposure route or people outside the studied population.

Researchers with the Switzerland-based Food Packaging Forum said they are concerned about Dinch and the limited health information around it. The group is conducting health research on DINCH, according to The Guardian Health.

Trasande said the findings “raise pretty serious concerns about regrettable substitution,” the replacement of a restricted chemical with a related compound that may carry similar risks. He said plastics treaty talks at the United Nations offer a chance to set stronger chemical-testing rules.

The study cannot show whether avoiding specific plastic products changes birth outcomes, and the reported article did not provide funding or declared conflict details for the NYU paper.

Source: News article, The Guardian Health, Nov. 7, 2026.

Atlas360 reports health research and does not provide medical advice.