>Don't let them shrink you Unless you plan on being in your mother's womb and going through birth again, then you aren't affected the same way. This study was for in utero baby boys not grown adult men. Also, the study seems flawed, but I can't tell for sure how badly with so little information given. >WebMD reported in 2009 on a study by Swan that found young boys whose mothers were exposed to high levels of phthalates were more likely to exhibit non-masculine behavior and less likely to “play with trucks and other male-typical toys or to play fight.” High levels of pthalates in utero are mentioned, but that does not give any detail on what the exposure thresholds are nor the underlying methods by which the pthalates entered the baby. Another source of the study said that in the follow up when the boys were between 3 and 6 years old, the mothers were asked about the boy's styles of play. This is essentially self-reported data and makes any study dubious because there is no scientific rigor applied to data collection. What is also left out is how many of these boys were being raised in single mother or feminist households where typical boy play is discouraged or punished. The fact that the data comes from the mother makes it highly likely that it is inaccurate due to feminine bias. Masks as well as just about any plastic containing products will have pthalates, but the method of entry into the body is more about consumption that contact with the skin. Breathing through a mask which contains minimal amounts of pthalates will do very little harm to the wearer and even less to the baby she may carry so I don't think this study is being honest and is more about inciting fear and panic. It appears to be working because Poal has run this study multiple times in the last couple of days and everyone seems convinced it applies to adult males the same way it does to male babies in utero. This is simply not the case but the fear it causes is definitely real.