I wish this study had been a multi-center study, so that children from more than one place were assessed. At least the study is longitudinal, measuring blood levels in the mother late in pregnancy, and then following up with the children at age seven (a very good age to choose for a first IQ test, because by that age child IQ scores on the WISC are stable enough to use for research of this kind). I see this is research funded by the United States federal government. It will be good to look for replication of this finding, especially in samples from other countries, to see if the finding generalizes to populations outside of New York City, the place where these children were assessed.
> South Korean studies have shown kids ages 8 to 11 who have higher evidence of phthalates in their urine were less attentive and more likely to be hyperactive. They also had measurably lower IQs. Another study found they might be associated with obesity in teenagers.
So it is, at the very least, not the only study or the only country linking phthalates to lower IQ.
