Even low doses of the endocrine disruptor DEHP alter tooth development

23/06/2022

DHEP, a chemical compound of the phthalate family, is still present in small quantities in many medical devices despite regulations limiting its use. Work carried out under the direction of Sylvie Babajko (1, 2) at the Centre de Recherche des Cordeliers indicates that even at very low doses, DHEP impacts the development of teeth. This observation is all the more worrying as DHEP is found in medical devices used in neonatology.

Sagittal section of a mouse incisor exposed to DEHP showing a delay of mineralization of the enamel in formation, brown layer located between the protein matrix in pink matrix in pink and the dentin in green. ©Sylvie Babajko/Inserm

These results, published in the journal “Environmental Health” Perspectives in June 2022, were the subject of a press release.

Read the Inserm press release

Reference: Use of Dental Defects Associated with Low-Dose di(2-Ethylhexyl)Phthalate as an Early Marker of Exposure to Environmental Toxicants. Ai Thu Bui, et al. Environmental Health Perspectives https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP10208

Contact: Sylvie BABAJKO sylvie.babajko@sorbonne-universite.fr

[1] The following laboratories participated in these results: the Laboratoire de physiopathologie orale moléculaire (Centre de Recherche des Cordeliers/INSERM/Université Paris Cité/Sorbonne Université), the Laboratoire de recherche biomédicale en odontologie (BRIO, UPR2496/Université Paris Cité), the Institut de chimie physique (ICP, CNRS/Université Paris-Saclay), the Laboratoire de mécanique Paris-Saclay (LMPS, CNRS/CentraleSupélec/ENS Paris-Saclay) and the Laboratoire de neuroscience Paris-Seine de l’Institut de biologie Paris Seine (IBPS, CNRS/Inserm/Sorbonne Université).

[2] Molecular Oral Pathophysiology team, led by Ariane Berdal