Good afternoon. Hopefully, your week is off to a good start. Most recently, babies exposed to marijuana in utero have a higher chance of being autistic. Also, the FDA continues to update its guidelines on hand sanitizer testing and issue recalls.
Marijuana Linked to Autism Spectrum Disorder
Not smoking marijuana while you’re pregnant sounds like common sense, and research published in Nature Medicine confirms that it is indeed a bad idea. With marijuana now legal for recreational use in more states and countries, consumption, in general, has gone up.
To better learn about the effects of marijuana on a fetus in utero, researchers analyzed all births in Ontario, Canada, between 2007 and 2012. Researchers found Autism spectrum disorder in four out of 1,000 babies exposed to maternal marijuana consumption compared to 2.42 out of 1,000 children not exposed to the substance. And while it wasn’t as statistically significant, a higher number of intellectual and learning disabilities such as ADHD was found in the exposed group.
Because this was a post-analysis that linked autism and learning disabilities to marijuana use, other factors weren’t seemingly considered. According to MedPage Today, the authors acknowledge limitations in the study but still conclude that one shouldn’t ingest marijuana while pregnant.
Hand Sanitizer Manufacturers Need to Clean Up Their Act
The FDA has issued another update on hand sanitizers that aren’t safe for consumer use. Since June, there have been six warning updates, and 115 hand sanitizer brands recalled. The FDA updated their guidelines to help manufacturers better understand the testing process to eliminate harmful levels of methanol in hand sanitizers.
Companies must test each lot of their hand sanitizer for methanol, and to do so in an FDA-approved laboratory. For a full list of manufacturers recalled by the FDA, click here.
