A new study has revealed that the chemicals known as perfluorinated chemicals, which can be found in food packaging, pesticides, clothing, upholstery, carpets and personal care products, might be linked to fertility issues and could delay pregnancy.

Currently, the United States are in the process of eliminating those chemicals by virtue of their harmful effects, which is expected to come to an end by 2010, when the chemicals are to be completely got rid of.

Nevertheless, perfluorinated chemicals remain in the environment and in the body for decades and they have also been linked to developmental issues.

Lead researcher Dr. Jorn Olsen, chairman of the Department of Epidemiology at UCLA's School of Public Health, said that the chemicals decreased the fertility in couples trying to get pregnant.

Moreover, he revealed that the Danish women who had participated in the study and had high levels of perfluorooctanoate (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) had had more trouble getting pregnant, taking more time to come to carry a child.

For the study, which was published in the January 29 online edition of Human Reproduction, Olsen and his team gathered data on 1,240 women who had participated in the Danish National Birth Cohort and inquired them on the time it had taken them to become pregnant, while they also collected blood samples.

After measuring the blood levels of PFOS and PFOA, the researchers divided the women into four groups and found that those from three groups with the highest levels of PFOS had taken from 70 percent to 134 percent longer to get pregnant than women with the lowest PFOS levels.