ArticleHormones and behavior2014
Environmental exposure to di-2-ethylhexyl phthalate is associated with low interest in sexual activity in premenopausal women.
Article in Hormones and behavior, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 14 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
14 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 24 citations in OpenAlex.
- Using systematic reviews for hazard and risk assessment of endocrine disrupting chemicals.Reviews in endocrine & metabolic disorders · 2015Pooled it
- Toxicants in sexual health products: highlighting a critical research gap.Journal of exposure science & environmental epidemiology · 2026Article
- An Epidemiologic Review of Endocrine-disrupting Chemicals and Understudied Gynecologic Health Conditions Affecting Quality of Life.Current environmental health reports · 2026Review
- Endocrine disrupting chemicals and female sexual health: An emerging research priority.Environmental research · 2025Article
- Associations between urinary biomarkers of phthalates and phthalate alternatives and female sexual function in a North American cohort.The journal of sexual medicine · 2025Article
- Endocrine effect of phthalate metabolites and a butterfly effect of prenatal exposure to androgens on qualitative aspects of female sexual response- an initial survey.International journal of impotence research · 2025Article
- Associations between per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and female sexual function in a preconception cohort.Environmental research · 2025Article
- The Effects of Environmental Pollutants and Exposures on Hair Follicle Pathophysiology.Skin appendage disorders · 2024Review
- Behavioral Effects of Exposure to Phthalates in Female Rodents: Evidence for Endocrine Disruption?International journal of molecular sciences · 2022Review
- Exposure of Adult Female Mice to Low Doses of di(2-ethylhexyl) Phthalate Alone or in an Environmental Phthalate Mixture: Evaluation of Reproductive Behavior and Underlying Neural Mechanisms.Environmental health perspectives · 2021Article
- Love Song Blues: DEHP Alters Courtship Vocalizations in Mice.Environmental health perspectives · 2018Article
- Neural Mechanisms Underlying the Disruption of Male Courtship Behavior by Adult Exposure to Di(2-ethylhexyl) Phthalate in Mice.Environmental health perspectives · 2017Article
- Association of Urinary Phthalate Metabolites With Erectile Dysfunction in Racial and Ethnic Groups in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2001-2004.American journal of men's health · 2017Article
- The Inflammation Response to DEHP through PPARγ in Endometrial Cells.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2016Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors at 6 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
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.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.