NEW YORK, April 29 (Xinhua) -- A set of chemicals found in food packaging, plastics, and lotions and shampoos has been linked to hundreds of thousands of deaths from heart disease, according to a study published in the journal eBioMedicine on Tuesday.

These chemicals, known as phthalates, were responsible for more than 350,000 deaths worldwide in 2018, researchers found. About 75 percent of the deaths were in Asia, the Middle East and the Pacific, reflecting growing concern about the amount of plastic proliferating in developing countries.

"While the researchers acknowledge that exposure to phthalates coincides with other risk factors, such as obesity and metabolic disorders, the findings add to the growing evidence that chemicals used in plastics come with serious health risks," said The Washington Post in its report about the finding.

Phthalates are a set of chemicals that are added to plastic to make it more stretchy, soft or flexible. In lotions, shampoos and perfumes, phthalates can be used to retain scents. But the chemicals, which are so common that some researchers call them "everywhere chemicals," have attracted widespread concern from scientists, it said.

In epidemiological studies, phthalates have been linked to male fertility problems, heart disease, obesity and ADHD. The United States allows nine kinds of phthalates to be used in food packaging, it added.