Boston (SmartAboutHealth) - According to a new study, exposure to hairspray has been linked directly to a high risk of birth defects.

Researchers have found that mothers who are exposed to hairspray during their first trimester are more likely to give birth to a baby with a birth defect.

Researchers from the Imperial College London, University College Cork, and the Center for Research in Environmental Epidemiology in Barcelona carried out the study on women who were pregnant.

Women exposed to hairspray were twice as likely give birth to a baby boy with the birth defect hypospadias, which is a genital birth defect.

A chemical known as phthalates found in hairspray may be the case of the risk.

The study was publihsed in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives.