If your libido is not what it used to be, chemicals found in plastics may to be to blame.
Phthalates, a group of chemicals used to make plastics more flexible and harder to break, were proved in several studies to cause problems with the reproductive system when they get into your body.
One study from the University of Rochester School of Medicine looked at the phthalates levels in pregnant women's urine before asking them about their sex drives, reported News Max Health. The more phthalates the researchers found in the urine, the less likely the woman was interested in having sex.
The chemical has also been linked to a range of adverse health effects - particularly in fetuses - by disrupting the normal production of key human hormones.
The LePage administration in Portland, Maine is currently deciding if they should require manufacturers to disclose which of their products contain phthalates, as well as three other dangerous substances, reported Portland Press Herald. The issue came to their attention after an increased number of consumer products containing the chemical were effecting exposed women's fetuses.
"We have overwhelming peer-reviewed scientific evidence that pregnant women exposed to high levels of phthalates give birth to children with cognitive, immune deficiency, and reproductive problems," Mike Belliveau, executive director of the Environmental Health Strategy Center, which has fought for regulation of the substances, told Portland Press Herald. "It's a very simple test: Does the administration want to give Maine children a healthier start in life through a libertarian tack that simply informs the public and lets the market decide what to do about it?"
The LePage administration is expected to make a decision on the issue by Jan. 27.
Phthalates have also been linked to premenopausal breast cancer, asthma, behavioral troubles in children and neurological developmental problems in newborns, reported News Max Health.
People are most commonly exposed to phthalates by eating and drinking foods that were in contact with containers and products containing the chemical. The chemical could also enter the body from breathing in air that contains phthalate vapors or dust contaminated with phthalate particles, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
