Thousands of women could be at risk from DES, the 'silent Thalidomide.' Tens of thousands of British families are to be asked if they are victims of diethylstilbestrol, a drug given to pregnant women which can cause fatal illness in the second, and possibly even third, generations. Some women given the drug in this country have already obtained compensation in America. London Independent 2012-01-22T09:00-05:00
Nurses' miscarriages linked to chemicals at work. A new study reports that nurses who worked with chemotherapy drugs or sterilizing chemicals were twice as likely to have a miscarriage as their colleagues who didn't handle these materials. Reuters 2012-01-14T09:00-05:00
Plasticizer increases miscarriage risk. In the first study of its kind, scientists in Denmark report that women exposed near the time of conception to relatively common levels of a particular phthalate are more likely to experience early pregnancy loss compared to women with lower exposures. Environmental Health News 2012-01-12T09:00-05:00
Fake peanut oil seized from shelves. Fake peanut oil that could potentially cause infertility was confiscated in South China on Tuesday, a fresh warning of food safety in the world's most populous country. China Daily 2012-01-05T09:00-05:00
'Food insecurity' blocks menstrual cycle in young girls. Girls with limited access to food enter into their first menstrual cycle at slower rates and up to a year later than those who have not consistently gone hungry, according to a long-term study of Ethiopian girls. Environmental Health News 2011-12-16T09:00-05:00
Weed killer linked to gender-bending in animals. Exposure to atrazine, a commonly used weed killer, increases the risk of reproductive problems in a wide range of animals, says a new review study that analyzed research from around the world. Globe and Mail 2011-12-02T09:00-05:00
Testes hit by herbicides. A review of 142 studies on the effects of the herbicide atrazine had bad news for testes. Discovery Channel 2011-12-02T09:00-05:00
Can Wi-Fi kill your sperm? Attention all men: You might want to keep your laptops, smartphones and other Internet-browsing tools away from the family jewels. A new study, albeit a small one, suggests that using Wi-Fi may damage sperm and decrease a man’s fertility. ABC News 2011-11-30T09:00-05:00
Laptop Wi-Fi said to nuke sperm. In a report in the venerable medical journal Fertility and Sterility, Argentinian scientists describe how they got semen samples from 29 healthy men, placed a few drops under a laptop connected to the Internet via Wi-Fi and then hit download. Four hours later, the semen was, eh, well-done. Reuters 2011-11-29T09:00-05:00
Little women. By the 1980s, the onset of puberty, if not actual menstruation, had gone into free fall--a change so sudden and pronounced that something more than normal evolution must have been at work. There is no shortage of theories about what's causing this to hapen. Obesity, exposure to endocrine disruptors like BPA, even social factors like TV and the internet have been invoked. Time Magazine 2011-10-23T09:00-05:00
Environmental chemicals may be obstacle for infertile couples. More often than not, in vitro fertilization takes repeated, costly attempts. Now scientists have found another potential obstacle for would-be parents. New research has turned up evidence of a link between endocrine-disrupting chemicals in the environment and poor IVF outcomes. Environmental Health News 2011-10-12T09:00-05:00
Maui 'in desperate need' of water; wells use OK'd. Maui County Council members Friday voted to allow the county Department of Water Supply to reopen its Hamakuapoko wells, despite ongoing opposition to using water that's been tainted by agricultural pesticides, including DBCP. Alarm about agricultural contaminants led the County Council in 2006 to ban the use of the well water. Maui News 2011-10-09T09:00-05:00
Genes change message after newborn rats given BPA. Bisphenol A (BPA) can alter the way genes are read in male rats exposed to the chemical as newborns. The so-called epigenetic changes had lasting effects on reproductive hormone signals into adulthood that may partially explain reported effects of the chemical on male fertility. Environmental Health News 2011-10-05T09:00-05:00
Is Susan G. Komen denying the BPA-breast cancer link? Famous for its fundraising races and pink gear, the Susan G. Komen Foundation has been fighting breast cancer for three decades. So it may come as a surprise that the Komen website has statements that dismiss links between the common chemical bisphenol A and breast cancer, even while funding research that explores that possible connection. Mother Jones 2011-10-04T09:00-05:00
Advising parents in the face of scientific uncertainty. How can clinicians advise pregnant women and others on environmental exposures in an accurate, responsible manner? Communicating about potential hazards requires delicacy and clarity, researchers and say, with full acknowledgment of the limits of current scientific understanding. Environmental Health Perspectives 2011-10-01T09:00-05:00
Mercury mess: Wild bird reproduction stifled. Levels of methylmercury commonly measured in the environment disrupt hormone levels in both sexes of white ibis, a bird species that lives in US southeast coastal marshes. Altered courtship and chick rearing behaviors tied to the hormone changes reduced reproduction. Environmental Health News 2011-09-22T09:00-05:00
Gender-bent fish found downstream of pharmaceutical plants. A French study finds that more than three-quarters of wild gudgeon fish examined had a mix of male and female traits in their sex organs if they lived directly downstream from a plant that manufactures pharmaceutical drugs. Environmental Health News 2011-09-19T09:00-05:00
Chemo impacts female fertility more than thought. The risk of infertility from cancer treatment may be much higher than doctors and patients realize, and almost all women diagnosed in their 20s and 30s who want children someday should be given the option of freezing their eggs or embryos, Bay Area fertility experts say. San Francisco Chronicle 2011-09-12T09:00-05:00
Mutant gene reduces male fertility. A genetic mutation that removes a coating of carbohydrates around sperm reduces their mobility and may explain why some men are less fertile than others, researchers said on Thursday. Reuters 2011-07-21T09:00-05:00
Male infertility linked to protein invisibility cloak. Sperm wears a protein coat that helps it sneak past the female immune system – or it should. Going coatless could be a major cause of male infertility, as it leaves sperm less able to penetrate the female's cervical mucus and fertilise the egg. New Scientist 2011-07-21T09:00-05:00
Pollutants' role in birth defects becomes clearer. Babies exposed to certain organic pollutants in the womb are at a highly increased risk of neural tube defects leading to conditions such as spina bifida, according to researchers in China. Neural tube defects arise very early in pregnancy and affect more than 320,000 infants worldwide every year. Nature 2011-07-19T09:00-05:00
Researchers' quest for gold. Ultrafine gold particles, which are 1/80,000th the diameter of a human hair, hold great promise for treating diseases as diverse as cancer, diabetes or AIDS, but scientists must prove that new ways to treat disease will do no harm. Milwaukee Journal Sentinel 2011-07-19T09:00-05:00
Love Canal women had higher pregnancy risks. A new study of pregnancy records of women who lived in Love Canal before the community was evacuated three decades ago finds an increased risk for early birth while they lived there and a rise in birth defects in their sons well after the women moved. Environmental Health News 2011-07-15T09:00-05:00
Using poop to explore killer whale problems. The resident orcas of Puget Sound have been on the endangered species list since 2005 and there are several hypotheses for why they’re not recovering. Orcas have the highest concentrations of toxic substances like DDT, flame-retardants and PCBs of any creature on earth. Scientists hope that poop may help solve the mystery. Oregon Public Broadcasting 2011-07-12T09:00-05:00
PCBs may impede IVF success. A new prospective study links PCBs to increased risk of failed implantation of the embryo and reduced odds of live birth in women undergoing IVF treatments for infertility. Environmental Health Perspectives 2011-07-01T09:00-05:00
Danish sperm counts spark data dispute. Last week, in what its editor acknowledges was an unusual move, the journal Epidemiology published a commentary and an editorial on new sperm count data that had not been submitted to it, nor had they been published elsewhere by the researchers who collected them. Science 2011-06-18T09:00-05:00
Using a cell phone lowers sperm count. A study conducted among men at the Cleveland Clinic, Ohio, in 2008 concluded that cell phone use does lower semen quality. Dr Ashok Agarwal, head of the clinical andrology lab at Cleveland Clinic advises men not to use their mobiles for long periods so that they maintain their reproductive health. New Delhi Times of India 2011-06-14T09:00-05:00