Common chemicals kill masculinity

PETER CAVE: A US study has come to the conclusion that the chemicals that make your flooring and your furniture soft may also be making a new generation of soft blokes.

Phthalates are used not only in household items, they're also present in processed food and now there's evidence that boys who were exposed to high levels of the chemicals in utero are less masculine.

It's a finding which has implications not only for pregnant women but for society at large, as Simon Lauder reports.

SIMON LAUDER: Phthalates are chemicals which are used to soften up many household items.

SHANNA SWAN: Flooring, carpet backing, wall coverings, furniture, shower curtains, soft and squishy toys.

SIMON LAUDER: Shanna Swan is the professor of obstetrics and gynaecology at the University of Rochester in New York. She says some phthalates inhibit testosterone production during pregnancy.

Professor Swan measured phthalate levels in 145 pregnant women.

Those who had boys then filled out a scientifically recognised survey designed to show how male typical their son's behaviour is.

SHANNA SWAN: Like, does he play with tea sets, likes to play with guns, dolls, trucks and likes to play sports, likes to play dress-up, pretend to be a female character.

SIMON LAUDER: Professor Swan says she found a direct correlation between phthalate exposure and masculine behaviour.

SHANNA SWAN: In our population there was a very large difference from how much there was in women who had low levels and how much there was in those who had high levels.

Now how conclusive is this? You know, no conclusions should rest on a single study and this is the first study of its kind.

SIMON LAUDER: So do you think on the upside phthalates could be good for world peace?

SHANNA SWAN: (Laughs) That would be a nice spin off but I think if you asked a mother who was carrying a child whether she cared whether his development was altered, I think she would care and would like to prevent that.

SIMON LAUDER: How do pregnant women avoid that contact? It sounds like in a lot of cases they might just have to move house.

SHANNA SWAN: Surprisingly, the primary exposure to phthalates apparently is in food. Any food that is processed tends to go through plastic tubing, containers, buckets and particularly if the food is heated along the way the phthalates will come out from the plastic. They are not chemically bound and they will get into the food.

You can also introduce phthalates into foods through the packaging and what I tell people is first of all don't panic but if you decide that you want to limit exposure, one thing you can do is to buy, when possible, unprocessed foods, store them in glass, heat them in glass. You will be minimising your exposure.

SIMON LAUDER: Professor Swan says she'll now do a wider study to further test her finding.

www.abc.net.au

Posted in: