Four out of every five British teens have their hormones upset by gender-bending chemicals found in plastics, new research suggests.

The chemical, called bisphenol A (BPA), is used to make plastics, including materials that come into contact with food.

But it can mimic the female sex hormone, estrogen, and cause a lower sperm count in men.

The chemical is also thought to be linked to several different types of cancer, including breast and prostate.

Researchers at Exeter University studied the blood and urine of 94 teenagers aged 17-19 and found 80 percent had the hormone-disrupting chemicals in their bodies.

Ecotoxicology professor Tamara Galloway, who co-led the study, said there was “growing evidence” that exposure to the chemical may be associated with poorer health.

Professor Lorna Harries, who also worked on the study, described it as a “pervasive disruptor” and added: “We should have a choice over what we put in our bodies.”

When the teens changed their diet to include more fresh produce the BPA levels among those with the highest levels began to fall, but there was little change amongst others.

BPA is legal in the UK. In the United States, things are more complicated. The FDA said in 2012 that baby bottles and child sippy cups could not contain BPA and it is banned in a number of states. However, it is still legal in products intended for adults in many states.

BPA is used in plastics including refillable drinks bottles and food storage containers, as well as protective coatings and linings for food and drinks cans.

It is also used to develop dye in thermal paper, which is used for store sales receipts, and public transport and parking tickets.

The European Chemicals Agency (ECA) has identified the chemical as a “substance of very high concern” and will restrict the use of it in our receipts by 2020.

Members of the ECA committee warned that BPA can disrupt the body’s endocrine system, which is the collection of glands that produce hormones.

They highlight the chemical’s “endocrine disrupting properties, which cause probable serious effects to human health” including infertility and aggression in girls as young as three.

But Cancer Research UK suggests there is no convincing scientific evidence that BPA increases a person’s risk of cancer.

And the most recent statement from the European Food Safety Authority, from January 2015, said there is no risk posed to human health at current exposure levels.

A spokesman for the British Plastics Industry said: “At current exposure levels, plastics containing BPA pose no consumer health risks.”

The Food Standard Agency’s website says: “Minute amounts of BPA can transfer from packaging into food and drinks, but independent experts have advised that these levels of exposure are not considered to be harmful.”

“Independent studies have shown that, even when consumed at high levels, BPA is rapidly absorbed, detoxified, and eliminated from humans.”

Campaigners have called for it to be banned from all products across the continent.