A new study has confirmed that Phthalates in chicken are a possible cause of micropens in newborn male babies.

                  Phthalates are a compound used in a wide range of consumer products like pesticide Paints and PVC plastics. A a landmark study from the Department of Environmental Health Sciences has discovered that Phthalates found mostly in poetry is contributing to shrinking penis size in boys and less masculine behavior such as preferring to play with dolls over trucks.

         In rodent studies prenatal exposure in males has also been correlated with male reproductive tract malformations and testicular cancer. Furthermore exposure to phthalates was found to also affect female reproductive system in rats. This included decrease estradiol production, prolonged estrous cycles and no ovulation.

          Women who are exposed to the most phthalates during pregnancy increase the likelihood of their male offsprings having Micro penis. The women who had the most exposure “had up to 10 times the odds of giving birth to sons with one or both testicles incompletely descended, their scrotum underdeveloped and categorized as small and/or ‘not distinct from surrounding tissue,’ and a significantly smaller penis volume (micro penis) -taking into account both length and girth.” Exposure to phthalates may “undervirilize males” (which can affect fertility).

                         In one study the urine phthalate levels of thousands of Americans all across the country were measured, along with their diets, to find out which food was most significantly associated with phthalate . They looked at dairy, eggs, fish, fruit, poultry, potatoes, tomatoes, vegetables in general, and red meat.

           Poultry had far more levels phthalates than any other foods.The data suggested “that an increase of one ounce of poultry per day is associated with an increase in [phthalate] DHEP levels of approximately 5.7 percent.” A single chicken breast can be half a dozen ounces or more.

So if having grandchildren is important to you it’s probably a good idea to lay off the poultry during pregnancy.