Hypospadias is a birth defect of the male genitalia in which the urinary opening is displaced to the underside of the penis. It affects about 1 in 250 boys in Britain and the United States.

Researchers from Imperial College London, University College Cork and the Center for Research in Environmental Epidemiology in Barcelona said women have a two- to three-fold increased risk of having a son with hypospadias if they are exposed to hairspray in the workplace in their first trimester, Imperial College said in a release.

The study suggests hairspray and hypospadias may be linked because of chemicals in hairspray known as phthalates. The report said previous studies have proposed that phthalates may disrupt the hormonal systems in the body and affect reproductive development. Folic acid supplements appear to reduce the risk of hypospadias by 36 percent, researchers said.

The findings were published Friday in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives.