Pregnant women are daily exposed (via food, drink, consumer products and air) to many plastic chemicals that can interfere with sex hormones and reproductive development in the fetus and contribute to poorer reproductive health in children, adolescents and later life phases (e.g. malformations of the genitals, altered puberty development, poorer sperm quality, lower fertility, etc.). Although such associations have been demonstrated in animal studies, there is little epidemiological data from longitudinal studies. The purpose of this study is to investigate whether prenatal exposure to environmental toxicants, originating from plastic production or products (phenols, organophosphate flame retardants, phthalates and per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances), is associated with reproductive health problems in children and adolescents. More specifically, we investigate whether the pollutants are related to 1) Risk of hypospadias and cryptorchidism in male children or 2) changes in pubertal development in boys and girls.
