Exposure to toxic environmental chemicals occurs every day, to everyone, everywhere across America. Due to deficiencies in the current regulatory regime, toxic chemicals are in the food we eat, the water we drink, the air we breathe, and the products in our homes. As obstetricians, we know that preconception and prenatal exposure to toxic chemicals is antithetical to healthy pregnancies, healthy children and healthy future generations.
Tag: chemicals
A Threat to Male Fertility
To study the impact of everyday chemicals on fertility, federal researchers recently spent four years tracking 501 couples as they tried to have children. One of the findings stood out: while both men and women were exposed to known toxic chemicals, men seemed much more likely to suffer fertility problems as a result.
Men’s Phthalate Levels Linked to Pregnancy Trouble
Women whose male partners have high levels of hormone-mimicking chemicals known as phthalates take longer to become pregnant, according to new research.
Report: Environmental Chemicals A Pregnancy Risk
From mercury to pesticides, Americans are exposed daily to environmental chemicals that could harm reproductive health, the nation’s largest groups of obstetricians and fertility specialists said Monday.
Pollutants’ Effect on Infertility Rates in China to be Examined
Study of link between chemicals and rise in number of women unable to bear children.
Exposure to Endocrine-Disrupting Chemicals Associated with Earlier Age at Menopause
In a study to be presented at the 68th Annual Meeting of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine, researchers from Washington University in St. Louis show for the first time the potential effects of endocrine-disrupting chemicals on ovarian reserve.
More bad news about chemicals and fertility
No one wants to hear it, but more disturbing news came out this week from the European Environment Agency (EEA) indicating that many household products, cleaners, cosmetics, and food contain chemicals that affect hormones — and not in a good way. On May 10, the organization issued a release saying that “endocrine-disrupting chemicals” — meaning ones that affect the hormone system by either blocking the normal effects of hormones or mimicking hormones — seem to be a contributing factor to “significant increases in cancers, diabetes and obesity, [and] falling fertility.” Since reproduction and fertility are, of course, directly tied to hormones, the effects of these chemicals on a woman’s ability to conceive and a man’s ability to get a woman pregnant may be even more pronounced.
The release went on to list some possible effects of these chemicals, including some that lead to low-quality semen in men. Animal studies have shown the chemicals affect the reproductive systems of a wide variety of animals. It’s very difficult to test the effects of these chemicals, since they could have been involved — and hindered — early development of a person’s reproductive system (as well as brain, immune, and other bodily systems), but the effects wouldn’t be seen for many years or decades.
Just as worrisome, another report came out this week in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives with the finding from a Harvard University study that exposure to bisphenol A (BPA) may reduce a woman’s chances of conceiving if she’s undergoing in vitro fertilization (IVF). The study looked at 137 women who were having fertility treatment at Massachusetts General Hospital Fertility Center; the researchers measured BPA levels in the women at the time of treatment. What did they find? “The results show a clear trend of increasing implantation failure [in which an embryo doesn’t implant in a woman’s uterus] with higher BPA levels,” reported EnvironmentalHealthNews.org.
BPA is a very common chemical used in the manufacture of many plastics, including some water bottles, the linings of canned food, grocery store receipts, and other everyday items. The Environmental Working Group offers these tips to help lessen your exposure to BPA.
Fertility expert Dr. Robert Greene also offers this good advice about how to reduce your exposure to environmental toxins as you’re trying to conceive.
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What’s a Hormone?
by Fred Licciardi, M.D.
And how do they help us ovulate? Hormones are chemicals that are made in one part of the body and act in another part of the body. For example, estrogen, our favorite hormone, is made in the ovaries and acts in the …
Perfluorochemicals: If it doesn’t stick to the pan, what does it do in our bodies?
By Karin Russ, MS, RN
Fertility can be affected by many factors: age, health, genetics, and stress to name a few. Studies in recent years have found relationships between chemicals in our homes and environment and the ability of a couple to …
Join Jessica Alba: Demand Congressional leadership and strong protections from toxic chemicals
The American Fertility Association is a proud member of the Safer Chemicals Healthy Families Coalition. We applaud Jessica Alba for her work on Capital Hill, and urge you to join us in showing Congress that Americans care about the toxins …