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Title: Environmental exposure to di-2-ethylhexyl phthalate is associated with low interest in sexual activity in premenopausal women.

Authors: Barrett, Emily S; Parlett, Lauren E; Wang, Christina; Drobnis, Erma Z; Redmon, J Bruce; Swan, Shanna H

Published In Horm Behav, (2014 Nov)

Abstract: Phthalates, a ubiquitous class of environmental chemicals, may interfere with typical reproductive hormone production both in utero and in adulthood. Although they are best known as anti-androgens, increasingly, evidence suggests that phthalates, particularly di-2-ethylhexyl phthalate (DEHP), may also suppress estrogen production. Given that both androgens and estrogens are essential for sexual function, particularly sexual interest, it is plausible that adult exposure to phthalates alters sexual function. To this end, we used data from 360 women participating in a pregnancy cohort study (the Study for Future Families) to examine whether urinary phthalate metabolite concentrations were associated with two dimensions of self-reported sexual dysfunction in the months prior to conception: lack of sexual interest and vaginal dryness. Women in the highest quartile of urinary concentrations of mono-2-ethyl-5-hydroxyhexyl phthalate, a DEHP metabolite, had 2.58 (95% CI 1.33, 5.00) times the adjusted odds of reporting that they almost always or often lacked interest in sexual activity, and results were similar for mono-2-ethyl-5-oxohexyl phthalate (aOR: 2.56, 95% CI 1.32, 4.95), another DEHP metabolite. Self-reported vaginal dryness was not associated with any phthalate metabolite concentration. This study is novel in its focus on sexual function in relation to environmentally relevant (rather than occupational) exposure to phthalates in adult women and these preliminary findings merit replication in a large, prospective study. Better understanding how adult exposure to phthalates may affect reproductive health, including sexual function, is of public health interest given that virtually all Westerners are exposed to phthalates.

PubMed ID: 25448532 Exiting the NIEHS site

MeSH Terms: Adult; Cohort Studies; Diethylhexyl Phthalate/toxicity*; Diethylhexyl Phthalate/urine; Environmental Exposure/adverse effects*; Environmental Exposure/analysis; Female; Humans; Libido/drug effects*; Phthalic Acids/toxicity; Phthalic Acids/urine; Pregnancy; Pregnancy Complications/chemically induced; Pregnancy Complications/physiopathology; Pregnancy Complications/psychology; Pregnancy Complications/urine; Premenopause*/drug effects; Premenopause*/psychology; Prospective Studies; Reproduction/drug effects; Sexual Behavior/drug effects*; Sexual Dysfunction, Physiological/chemically induced; Sexual Dysfunction, Physiological/psychology; Sexual Dysfunction, Physiological/urine; Young Adult

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