Chronic diseases caused by chemical exposures in great-grandmothers

Scientists from Washington State University showed that a chemical mixture of different plastic-related compounds can cause health effects in rats, three generations after the actual chemical exposure occurred.

The article published in the peer-reviewed scientific online journal PLOS1 demonstrated that chemical exposure during pregnancy could lead to changes in the testis, prostate, kidney, ovaries and fat storage of affected animals. In addition, in the third generation after the exposure occurred, animals had a higher incidence of obesity and other effects, including changes to the testis and ovarian disease.

These effects are hypothesized to be caused by the chemical exposure to the pregnant great-grandmother, and passed on to subsequent generations by changes on the DNA, so called epigenetic effects.