New research suggests that a 25% reduction in exposure to just 4 chemicals commonly found in the home would reduce diabetes cases by around 13% which could save billions of dollars in annual health costs.

Increasing evidence suggests that synthetic chemicals commonly found in the environment contribute to metabolic disorders, especially obesity and diabetes. Previous publications have associated prevalent diabetes with polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), persistent chlorinated pesticides, phthalates and perfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs). Separate studies found similar connections between diabetes and exposure to DDT, PCBs and perfluoroalkyl.

In this study of 1,016 participants they found significant connections between the four chemicals investigated and a number of different diseases and found reduced exposure to all four chemicals would lead to a likely reduction 13% in diabetes cases. This study confirms substantial contribution, especially of mixtures of endocrine-disrupting chemicals, to adult type 2 diabetes, and large annual costs of medical care. A previous reported a significant positive relationship between phthalates in the blood and lowered insulin secretion, increased insulin resistance or both.

While this study supports efforts to reduce chemical exposures to reduce the burden and costs of diabetes there are many other disease states including cardiovascular disease and cancer that would also likely be reduced.