Phthalates, one of the most common endocrine disruptors, are commonly used by industry in many plastic products—toys, clothing, baby bottles or even medical equipment—as well as in cosmetics. If guidelines are beginning to be imposed to limit their use, their toxic effect on the endocrine system is worrying. Indeed, the exposure of male fetuses to phthalates can have devastating consequences for the fertility of future individuals by modifying the regulatory elements of the expression of genes responsible for spermatogenesis. However, we are not all equal: researchers at the University of Geneva (UNIGE) and the University Hospitals of Geneva (HUG), Switzerland, show that phthalate susceptibility depends largely on the genetic heritage of each individual. These results, to be discovered in PLOS One magazine, raise the question of individual vulnerability as well as that of the possible transmission to future generations of epigenetic changes that should normally be erased during fetal development.
* This article was originally published here
