Plausibility of the findings reported in 'Prenatal exposure to glycol ethers and cryptorchidism and hypospadias: a nested case-control study by Warembourg et al

The recent publication by Warembourg et al1 suggests several associations between exposure to glycol ethers during pregnancy and the development of male genital anomalies. We consider that a number of the findings and assumptions are of dubious credibility and, while some reach statistical significance, it is doubtful that a link with glycol ether exposure is biologically credible.

The amount of urinary samples containing detectable levels of methoxyacetic acid (MAA) (67%) is questionable. It is acknowledged that exposure to ethylene glycol methyl ether (EGME), ethylene glycol dimethyl ether (EGDME), diethylene glycol dimethyl ether  (DEGDME) and triethylene glycol dimethyl ether (TEGDME) is unlikely due to regulations already in place before establishment of the cohorts. However, the information on diethylene glycol methyl ether (DEGME) and TEGME as potential other sources of MAA is inaccurate. Data recently published on the European Chemicals Agency website2 for DEGME indicate that MAA is produced as a...

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