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The environmental impacts on reproductive health
While genetic and lifestyle factors impacting reproductive health have been studied for years, the role of environmental factors such as air pollution, organic pollutants, and endocrine-disrupting chemicals are coming under the spotlight.
As increasing numbers of studies find evidence of the adverse effects of environmental pollutants and toxins on reproductive health, researchers are pushing for more work to be done to understand the connections between these factors and fertility.
Globally, one in six people will face challenges in conceiving a child at some point in their lives, according to a recent report by the World Health Organisation (WHO).
The European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology (ESHRE) estimates that 25 million people in the EU alone are affected by infertility.
Female and male infertility is often linked to a number of factors such as increasing age at conception, disorders of the genital organs, endocrine disorders, and abnormal sperm function and quality.
Other factors can be external, such as smoking, consumption of drugs, and excessive alcohol intake.
While these factors have been the subject of scientific journals for decades, recent research reveals an additional cause for concern: exposure to environmental pollutants and toxins.
“In the EU, whereas we’ve done a lot of efforts to regulate chemicals better, we know very little about the toxicity of most of the chemicals that we have widely present in consumer products”, said Pauliina Damdimopoulou, a researcher on the impact of chemicals on the fertility of women at a seminar hosted by ESHRE last week.
“We can see multiple associations to adverse effects in studies varying from ovarian function to endometrial biology, fertility, and reproductive outcomes”, she added.
For Damdimopoulou, the need to study organic pollutants and their effects on women’s reproductive health is crucial, despite the costs of measuring chemicals’ impacts.
One factor highlighted by researchers is the role of urban air pollution in human health.
Miguel Ángel Checa, a specialist in reproductive medicine studied the effects environmental toxins can have on fertility. Air pollution, for instance, contributes to low birth rates, despite not being the only risk factor.
His studies show that exposure to sulfur dioxide (SO2) decreases sperm DNA synthesis, which can lead to infertility and miscarriage.
Another environmental factor concerning experts is endocrine disruptor chemicals (EDCs).
EDCs are a class of chemicals commonly found throughout our environment in children’s products, food containers, personal care products, pesticides, and furniture.
These hazardous substances alter the functioning of the hormonal system, having a negative effect on the health of humans and animals.
During the seminar, various researchers warned about the effects these substances may have on fertility.
Maria Isabel Acien, chief of gynaecology at San Juan University Hospital in Alicante, Spain, explained how endocrine disruptors can cause genital tract anomalies.
“Disorders in young adult men like low sperm counts and testicular cancer may also stem from maldevelopment of the foetal testis and so have been related to in-utero endocrine disruptors”, she said.
Likewise, for Rémi Béranger from Rennes University, there’s a need to better understand these compounds to reduce exposure.
“We need to develop prevention strategies at an institutional level. To support research and exposure assessment to understand to what exactly we are exposed to,” he concluded.
By Marta Iraola
Bron: https://www.euractiv.com/section/health-consumers/news/the-environmental-impacts-on-reproductive-health/
