Fact Sheets on Environmental Stressors and Reproductive Health
The European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology (ESHRE), has released four comprehensive fact sheets focusing on the critical intersection of environmental stressors and reproductive health. Developed by key experts in the field and with collaboration from ESE, these fact sheets shed light on the pressing challenges posed by environmental exposures to fertility, reproductive health, and the well-being of future generations.
Some key facts:
- Human fertility rates are declining globally and have been below the population replacement threshold in the EU for decades. The decline in fertility rates is due to a variety of factors, including environmental exposures.
- Endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) are contributing to the worsening of female and male reproductive health. These chemicals are present in food, drinking water, cosmetics, at the workplace, and in- and outdoor air pollution.
- The health of the offspring can be affected by environmental stressors through maternal exposure in the preconception period, prenatal and neonatal life, but also through paternal exposure in the preconception period. Environmental exposure includes exposure at the workplace.
- Reducing and potentially eliminating the exposure of children to environmental stressors in the early years of their lives, and even before conception and pregnancy, can protect their health and that of future generations.
To learn more about human-made chemicals, endocrine disruptors, climate change and air pollution and their link to reproductive health, check out the ESHRE fact sheets here.
Published
26/04/2024
26/04/2024