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Bibliography

The major peer-reviewed studies, regulatory documents, and authoritative sources cited across Untoxed Health, grouped by topic. Where we have been unable to verify a specific volume or page number, we have left it off rather than guessed.

On this page

PFAS evidence

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances. The C8 Health Project, run after the Du Pont Washington Works settlement, is the largest human cohort study of PFOA exposure to date and underpins much of the regulatory action that followed.

  1. US National Toxicology Program (2016). NTP Monograph on Immunotoxicity Associated with Exposure to Perfluorooctanoic Acid (PFOA) or Perfluorooctane Sulfonate (PFOS). US Department of Health and Human Services.

    https://ntp.niehs.nih.gov/publications/monographs/mgraph04

  2. Steenland K, Fletcher T, Savitz DA (2010). Epidemiologic evidence on the health effects of perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA). Environmental Health Perspectives.

    https://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/doi/10.1289/ehp.0901827

  3. Steenland K, Winquist A (2018). PFAS and cancer, a scoping review of the epidemiologic evidence. Environmental Research.

    https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33022215/

  4. Grandjean P, Andersen EW, Budtz-Jørgensen E, et al. (2012). Serum vaccine antibody concentrations in children exposed to perfluorinated compounds. JAMA.

    Faroe Islands birth cohort.

    https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/1104903

  5. Grandjean P, Heilmann C, Weihe P, et al. (2017). Estimated exposures to perfluorinated compounds in infancy predict attenuated vaccine antibody concentrations at age 5 years. Journal of Immunotoxicology.

    https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28805477/

  6. US Environmental Protection Agency (2024). PFAS National Primary Drinking Water Regulation. US EPA, 40 CFR Parts 141 and 142.

    https://www.epa.gov/sdwa/and-polyfluoroalkyl-substances-pfas

Phthalates and endocrine disruption

The Swan group's anogenital distance work is the most cited human evidence linking prenatal phthalate exposure to a measurable developmental endpoint in male infants.

  1. Swan SH, Main KM, Liu F, et al. (2005). Decrease in anogenital distance among male infants with prenatal phthalate exposure. Environmental Health Perspectives.

    https://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/doi/10.1289/ehp.8100

  2. Swan SH, Sathyanarayana S, Barrett ES, et al. (2015). First trimester phthalate exposure and anogenital distance in newborns. Human Reproduction.

    https://academic.oup.com/humrep/article/30/4/963/2356639

  3. Hauser R, Calafat AM (2005). Phthalates and human health. Occupational and Environmental Medicine.

    https://oem.bmj.com/content/62/11/806

  4. Calafat AM, Ye X, Wong LY, Reidy JA, Needham LL (2008). Urinary concentrations of bisphenol A and 4-nonylphenol in a human reference population. Environmental Health Perspectives.

    https://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/doi/10.1289/ehp.10753

  5. US National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (Programmatic). Phthalates research programme. NIEHS / NIH.

    https://www.niehs.nih.gov/health/topics/agents/phthalates

Bisphenols (BPA, BPS, BPF and analogues)

BPA was the first widely studied bisphenol; the literature since 2010 has documented that the most common substitutes (BPS, BPF) share comparable endocrine activity in vitro and in vivo.

  1. Rochester JR, Bolden AL (2015). Bisphenol S and F: a systematic review and comparison of the hormonal activity of bisphenol A substitutes. Environmental Health Perspectives.

    https://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/doi/10.1289/ehp.1408989

  2. Vandenberg LN, Colborn T, Hayes TB, et al. (2012). Hormones and endocrine-disrupting chemicals: low-dose effects and nonmonotonic dose responses. Endocrine Reviews.

    https://academic.oup.com/edrv/article/33/3/378/2354852

  3. Vandenberg LN, Hauser R, Marcus M, Olea N, Welshons WV (2007). Human exposure to bisphenol A (BPA). Reproductive Toxicology.

    https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17768031/

  4. US Food and Drug Administration (2014). Final report for the review of literature and data on BPA. FDA Office of Food Additive Safety.

    https://www.fda.gov/food/food-additives-petitions/bisphenol-bpa

  5. European Food Safety Authority (2023). Re-evaluation of the risks to public health related to the presence of bisphenol A (BPA) in foodstuffs. EFSA Journal.

    https://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/efsajournal/pub/6857

Parabens

The 1998 Routledge in vitro work and the 2004 Darbre breast-tissue paper are the two most cited points of origin for the regulatory and consumer concern over parabens. Subsequent reviews have refined rather than reversed those findings.

  1. Routledge EJ, Parker J, Odum J, Ashby J, Sumpter JP (1998). Some alkyl hydroxy benzoate preservatives (parabens) are oestrogenic. Toxicology and Applied Pharmacology.

    https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/9875295/

  2. Darbre PD, Aljarrah A, Miller WR, Coldham NG, Sauer MJ, Pope GS (2004). Concentrations of parabens in human breast tumours. Journal of Applied Toxicology.

    https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/jat.958

  3. European Commission Scientific Committee on Consumer Safety (SCCS) (2013). Opinion on parabens (revision). SCCS/1514/13.

    https://health.ec.europa.eu/scientific-committees/scientific-committee-consumer-safety-sccs_en

Microplastics in humans

The detection literature on human microplastic exposure expanded sharply between 2018 and 2024. The papers below are the first peer-reviewed detections in each compartment, and the food-contact studies that quantified release from common consumer items.

  1. Leslie HA, van Velzen MJM, Brandsma SH, Vethaak AD, Garcia-Vallejo JJ, Lamoree MH (2022). Discovery and quantification of plastic particle pollution in human blood. Environment International.

    https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160412022001258

  2. Ragusa A, Svelato A, Santacroce C, et al. (2021). Plasticenta: first evidence of microplastics in human placenta. Environment International.

    https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160412020322297

  3. Yang Y, Xie E, Du Z, et al. (2023). Detection of various microplastics in patients undergoing cardiac surgery. Environmental Science and Technology.

    https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.est.2c07179

  4. Hernandez LM, Xu EG, Larsson HCE, Tahara R, Maisuria VB, Tufenkji N (2019). Plastic teabags release billions of microparticles and nanoparticles into tea. Environmental Science and Technology.

    https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.est.9b02540

  5. Li D, Shi Y, Yang L, et al. (2020). Microplastic release from the degradation of polypropylene feeding bottles during infant formula preparation. Nature Food.

    https://www.nature.com/articles/s43016-020-00171-y

Sunscreen UV filters

The Matta JAMA papers established that several common chemical UV filters are systemically absorbed at concentrations that trigger the FDA threshold for further safety study. The Schlumpf and Downs papers cover oestrogenic activity and reef toxicity respectively.

  1. Matta MK, Florian J, Zusterzeel R, et al. (2020). Effect of sunscreen application on plasma concentration of sunscreen active ingredients: a randomized clinical trial. JAMA.

    https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2759002

  2. Matta MK, Zusterzeel R, Pilli NR, et al. (2019). Effect of sunscreen application under maximal use conditions on plasma concentration of sunscreen active ingredients. JAMA.

    https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2733085

  3. Schlumpf M, Cotton B, Conscience M, Haller V, Steinmann B, Lichtensteiger W (2001). In vitro and in vivo estrogenicity of UV screens. Environmental Health Perspectives.

    https://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/doi/10.1289/ehp.01109239

  4. Downs CA, Kramarsky-Winter E, Segal R, et al. (2016). Toxicopathological effects of the sunscreen UV filter, oxybenzone (benzophenone-3), on coral planulae and cultured primary cells. Archives of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology.

    https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00244-015-0227-7

  5. Downs CA, DiNardo JC, Stien D, Rodrigues AMS, Lebaron P (2021). Benzophenone accumulates over time from the degradation of octocrylene in commercial sunscreen products. Chemical Research in Toxicology.

    https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.chemrestox.0c00461

Flame retardants and food emulsifiers

The Stapleton group documented brominated and chlorinated flame retardant residues in US household furniture, and the Chassaing Nature paper opened the food-emulsifier and gut-microbiome research line that has expanded since.

  1. Stapleton HM, Klosterhaus S, Eagle S, et al. (2009). Detection of organophosphate flame retardants in furniture foam and US house dust. Environmental Science and Technology.

    https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/es9014019

  2. Stapleton HM, Sharma S, Getzinger G, et al. (2012). Novel and high volume use flame retardants in US couches reflective of the 2005 PentaBDE phase out. Environmental Science and Technology.

    https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/es303471d

  3. Chassaing B, Koren O, Goodrich JK, et al. (2015). Dietary emulsifiers impact the mouse gut microbiota promoting colitis and metabolic syndrome. Nature.

    https://www.nature.com/articles/nature14232

  4. Chassaing B, Compher C, Bonhomme B, et al. (2022). Randomized controlled-feeding study of dietary emulsifier carboxymethylcellulose reveals detrimental impacts on the gut microbiota and metabolome. Gastroenterology.

    https://www.gastrojournal.org/article/S0016-5085(21)03658-8/fulltext

Regulatory documents

Where we cite a regulatory position, we link to the primary document rather than to a press summary. Lists below are kept short; consult each register for the live, up-to-date entries.

  1. US Environmental Protection Agency (Current). National Primary Drinking Water Regulations. US EPA, 40 CFR Part 141.

    https://www.epa.gov/ground-water-and-drinking-water/national-primary-drinking-water-regulations

  2. European Chemicals Agency (Current). Candidate List of substances of very high concern (SVHC) for authorisation. ECHA, REACH Regulation Article 59.

    https://echa.europa.eu/candidate-list-table

  3. California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (Current). Proposition 65 list of chemicals known to the State of California to cause cancer or reproductive toxicity. OEHHA.

    https://oehha.ca.gov/proposition-65/proposition-65-list

  4. European Parliament and Council (2009 (consolidated)). Regulation (EC) No 1223/2009 on cosmetic products, including Annex II (prohibited) and Annex III (restricted) substances. Official Journal of the European Union.

    https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A02009R1223-20240301

  5. US Food and Drug Administration (Current). Cosmetics regulation under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act and the Modernization of Cosmetics Regulation Act of 2022 (MoCRA). FDA Office of Cosmetics and Colors.

    https://www.fda.gov/cosmetics/cosmetics-laws-regulations

  6. International Agency for Research on Cancer (Programmatic). IARC Monographs on the Identification of Carcinogenic Hazards to Humans. World Health Organization.

    https://monographs.iarc.who.int/

  7. European Parliament and Council (2020). Directive (EU) 2020/2184 on the quality of water intended for human consumption (recast). Official Journal of the European Union.

    https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dir/2020/2184/oj

About these citations

Each entry is a real, verifiable citation. Where a page on Untoxed Health makes a specific claim, the supporting reference appears either inline on that page or in this list. If you find a citation here that does not appear to support the claim it is attached to, please email hello@untoxed.health.

For the rules we apply when deciding what counts as evidence, how grades are assigned, and how we handle conflicts of interest, see the methodology page.