References: Science in Detail 5 · The Human Cohorts, in Depth
Gray LE Jr, Ostby J, Furr J, Price M, Veeramachaneni DN, Parks L. Perinatal exposure to the phthalates DEHP, BBP, and DINP alters sexual differentiation of the male rat. Toxicol Sci. 2000;58(2):350-365.
Parks LG, Ostby JS, Lambright CR, et al. The plasticizer diethylhexyl phthalate induces malformations by decreasing fetal testosterone synthesis during sexual differentiation in the male rat. Toxicol Sci. 2000;58(2):339-349.
Mylchreest E, Wallace DG, Cattley RC, Foster PM. Dose-dependent alterations in androgen-regulated male reproductive development in rats exposed to di(n-butyl) phthalate during late gestation. Toxicol Sci. 2000;55(1):143-151.
Welsh M, Saunders PTK, Fisken M, Scott HM, Hutchison GR, Smith LB, Sharpe RM. Identification in rats of a programming window for reproductive tract masculinization, disruption of which leads to hypospadias and cryptorchidism. J Clin Invest. 2008;118(4):1479-90.
Swan SH, Main KM, Liu F, et al. Decrease in anogenital distance among male infants with prenatal phthalate exposure. Environ Health Perspect. 2005;113(8):1056-61.
Gore AC, Chappell VA, Fenton SE, et al. EDC-2: The Endocrine Society's Second Scientific Statement on Endocrine-Disrupting Chemicals. Endocr Rev. 2015;36(6):E1-E150.
Swan SH, Main KM, Liu F, et al. Decrease in anogenital distance among male infants with prenatal phthalate exposure. Environ Health Perspect. 2005;113(8):1056-1061.
Suzuki Y, Yoshinaga J, Mizumoto Y, Serizawa S, Shiraishi H. Foetal exposure to phthalate esters and anogenital distance in male newborns. Int J Androl. 2012;35(3):236-244.
Yamada G et al., 'Molecular genetic cascades for external genitalia formation,' Differentiation 71(8):445-460, 2003.
Moore KL & Persaud TVN, The Developing Human, 10th ed., Elsevier, 2016.
Moore KL & Persaud TVN, The Developing Human: Clinically Oriented Embryology, 10th ed., Elsevier, 2016.
Bergman A, Heindel JJ, Jobling S, Kidd KA, Zoeller RT (eds.). 'State of the Science of Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals - 2012.' WHO/UNEP, 2013.
Vandenberg LN, et al. Endocr Rev 33(3):378-455, 2012.
Swan SH, Main KM, Liu F, et al. (2005). Decrease in anogenital distance among male infants with prenatal phthalate exposure. Environmental Health Perspectives, 113(8), 1056-1061.
Skakkebaek NE, Rajpert-De Meyts E & Main KM. (2001). Testicular dysgenesis syndrome: an increasingly common developmental disorder with environmental aspects. Human Reproduction, 16(5), 972-978.
Woodruff TJ, Zota AR, Schwartz JM, 'Environmental Chemicals in Pregnant Women in the US: NHANES 2003-2004,' Environ Health Perspect 119(6):878-885, 2011.
CDC, 'Fourth National Report on Human Exposure to Environmental Chemicals,' updated 2024.
Marsee K, Woodruff TJ, Axelrad DA, Calafat AM, Swan SH. Estimated daily phthalate exposures in a population of mothers of male infants exhibiting reduced anogenital distance. Environ Health Perspect. 2006;114(6):805-809.
Swan SH et al., 'Decrease in Anogenital Distance among Male Infants with Prenatal Phthalate Exposure,' Environmental Health Perspectives 113(8):1056-1061 (2005)
Swan SH, 'Environmental phthalate exposure and anogenital distance' / Swan et al. respond, Environmental Health Perspectives (2006)
Latini G, De Felice C, Presta G, et al. 'Detection of phthalate metabolites in human amniotic fluid.' Bull Environ Contam Toxicol 74(5):1015-1020, 2005 (publ. online 2004).
Phthalate metabolite concentrations in amniotic fluid and maternal urine. PMC7186561, 2020.
Swan SH et al. (full text). Prenatal Phthalate Exposure and Anogenital Distance in Male Infants. PMC1367871.
Cajachagua-Torres KN, et al. Prenatal phthalate exposure and anogenital distance in infants at 12 months. Environment International 199:109472, 2025.
Swan SH. Environmental phthalate exposure in relation to reproductive outcomes and other health endpoints in humans. Environ Res. 2008;108(2):177-184.
Silva MJ, Reidy JA, Herbert AR, Preau JL Jr, Needham LL, Calafat AM. Detection of phthalate metabolites in human amniotic fluid. Bull Environ Contam Toxicol. 2004;72(6):1226-1231.
Huang PC, Kuo PL, Chou YY, Lin SJ, Lee CC. Association between prenatal exposure to phthalates and the health of newborns. Environ Int. 2009;35(1):14-20.
Bornehag CG, Carlstedt F, Jönsson BA, et al. Prenatal phthalate exposures and anogenital distance in Swedish boys. Environ Health Perspect. 2015;123(1):101-107. PMID 25353625.
Swan SH, Sathyanarayana S, Barrett ES, et al. First trimester phthalate exposure and anogenital distance in newborns. Hum Reprod. 2015;30(4):963-972. PMID 25697839.
Bornehag CG, et al. Prenatal phthalate exposures and anogenital distance in Swedish boys. Environ Health Perspect. 2015;123(1):101-107. PMID 25353625.
Bornehag CG, et al. The SELMA study. Paediatr Perinat Epidemiol. 2012;26(5):456-467. PMID 22882791.
Buck Louis GM, Sundaram R, Schisterman EF, et al. Persistent environmental pollutants and couple fecundity: the LIFE study. Environ Health Perspect. 2013;121(2):231-236. PMID 23151773.
Buck Louis GM, Schisterman EF, Sweeney AM, et al. Designing prospective cohort studies for assessing reproductive and developmental toxicity during sensitive windows of human reproduction and development - the LIFE Study. Paediatr Perinat Epidemiol. 2011;25(5):413-424. PMID 21819424.
PubMed 25353625 and PMC4286276 author list, checked 2026-09-08. Found by the whole-book adversarial audit (Codex, high reasoning effort) run on 21.08.67; the finding was NOT taken on trust - the author list was retrieved and read before this row was written.
Levine H, Jørgensen N, Martino-Andrade A, Swan SH, et al. Temporal trends in sperm count: a systematic review and meta-regression analysis. Human Reproduction Update 23(6):646-659 (2017).
BBC News. Sperm count drop 'could make humans extinct' (25 July 2017).
Iavicoli I, Fontana L, Bergamaschi A, 'The effects of metals as endocrine disruptors', Journal of Toxicology and Environmental Health Part B 12(3):206-223, 2009
Rana SVS, 'Perspectives in endocrine toxicity of heavy metals — a review', Biological Trace Element Research 160:1-14, 2014
Pasquali, Renato, 'Obesity and androgens: facts and perspectives,' Fertility and Sterility 85(5):1319-1340, 2006.
Emanuele, Mary Ann and Emanuele, Nicholas, 'Alcohol's Effects on Male Reproduction,' Alcohol Health & Research World 22(3):195-201, 1998.
Brown, Wendy J. et al., 'Sedentary behaviour and health,' British Journal of Sports Medicine 49(3):149-150, 2015.
La Merrill M, Emond C, Kim MJ, et al. Toxicological Function of Adipose Tissue: Focus on Persistent Organic Pollutants. Environmental Health Perspectives 121(2):162-169 (2013).
ATSDR. Toxicological Profile for Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs). U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services (2000).
Welshons WV et al. Large effects from small exposures. I. Mechanisms for endocrine-disrupting chemicals with estrogenic activity. Environmental Health Perspectives 111(8):994-1006, 2003.
Vandenberg LN et al. Hormones and endocrine-disrupting chemicals: low-dose effects and nonmonotonic dose responses. Endocrine Reviews 33(3):378-455, 2012.
Herbst AL, Ulfelder H, Poskanzer DC. Adenocarcinoma of the vagina: association of maternal stilbestrol therapy with tumor appearance in young women. New England Journal of Medicine 284(16):878-881, 1971.
National Cancer Institute. Diethylstilbestrol (DES) Exposure and Cancer fact sheet.
Troisi R, Hatch EE, Titus-Ernstoff L, et al. Cancer risk in women prenatally exposed to diethylstilbestrol. International Journal of Cancer 121(2):356-360, 2007. doi:10.1002/ijc.22631. PMID 17304514
Skinner MK, 'Endocrine disruptor induction of epigenetic transgenerational inheritance of disease,' Molecular and Cellular Endocrinology, 2014 (PMC4262585)
Levine H et al., 'Temporal Trends in Sperm Count: A Systematic Review and Meta-Regression Analysis of Samples Collected Globally in the 20th and 21st Centuries,' Hum Reprod Update 29(2):157-176, 2023.
Travison TG et al., 'A Population-Level Decline in Serum Testosterone Levels in American Men,' J Clin Endocrinol Metab 92(1):196-202, 2007.
Chevrier C et al. Urinary biomarkers of prenatal atrazine exposure and adverse birth outcomes in the PELAGIE birth cohort, France, 2002-2006. Environmental Health Perspectives 119(7):1034-1041, 2011.
Winchester PD et al. Agrichemicals in surface water and birth defects in the United States. Acta Paediatrica 98(4):664-669, 2009.
Vizcaino E, et al. (2014). Transport of persistent organic pollutants across the human placenta. Environment International 65:107-115.
Needham LL, et al. (2011). Partition of environmental chemicals between maternal and fetal blood and tissues. Environmental Science & Technology 45(3):1121-1126.
Gore AC et al. EDC-2: The Endocrine Society's Second Scientific Statement on Endocrine-Disrupting Chemicals. Endocrine Reviews 36(6):E1-E150, 2015 (PMID 26544531).
Kortenkamp A. Ten years of mixing cocktails. Environmental Health Perspectives 115(Suppl 1):98-105, 2007 (PMID 18174957).
Gore AC, Chappell VA, Fenton SE, et al. (2015). EDC-2: The Endocrine Society's second scientific statement on endocrine-disrupting chemicals. Endocrine Reviews, 36(6), E1-E150.
Boas M, Feldt-Rasmussen U & Main KM. (2012). Thyroid effects of endocrine-disrupting chemicals. Molecular and Cellular Endocrinology, 355(2), 240-248.
Kjeldsen LS, Bonefeld-Jorgensen EC. "Perfluorinated compounds affect the function of sex hormone receptors." Environmental Science and Pollution Research 20(11):8031-8044, 2013.
Derakhshan A, Shu H, Peeters RP, et al. "Association of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances with thyroid hormone levels during pregnancy." Environment International 144:106030, 2020.
Vandenberg LN et al. Hormones and endocrine-disrupting chemicals: low-dose effects and nonmonotonic dose responses. Endocr Rev. 2012;33(3):378-455.
Diamanti-Kandarakis E et al. Endocrine-disrupting chemicals: an Endocrine Society scientific statement. Endocr Rev. 2009;30(4):293-342.