Green Daily

We've already told you about phthalates - they're the ubiquitous chemical compounds used to soften plastic. They're found in products ranging from baby shampoo to sex toys, and to date they've been linked with some pretty unpleasant side effects like birth defects and cancer.

Turns out that's not all. Researchers have found that pregnant women who've had a higher exposure to phthalates are more likely to give birth to male children with smaller penises. While all the boys in the study were within what's considered the normal size range, there was a strong correlation between phthalate concentrations in the mother's urine and a smaller penis on the son.

The problem here is bigger than just the potential loss of a whole generation of porn stars. It's thought that at higher levels, pthhalates may be responsible for more serious problems in male children, including deformities of the reproductive organs, femininized behaviour, and infertility in later life.

Male fertility around the world is currently half what it was 50 years ago, probably due to phthalates and other "gender-bender" chemicals - an article in the Daily Mail points out that at the current rate of decline, in 20 years the average man will be unable to father children at all. Given that rather frightening trend, any pollutant that exacerbates the problem could probably use more regulation than the none we've got now.