Environmental health perspectives

BackgroundParabens are preservatives commonly used in personal care products, pharmaceuticals, and foods. There is documented widespread human exposure to parabens, and some experimental data suggest that they act as estrogenic endocrine di…

BackgroundAnimal studies indicate that some phthalate metabolites may harm female reproductive function.ObjectivesWe assessed the associations between exposure to phthalate metabolites and pregnancy loss.MethodsUsing a previously establishe…

BACKGROUND: Uterine leiomyomata (fibroids) are hormonally responsive tumors, but little is known about risk factors. Early-life exposures may influence uterine development and subsequent response to hormones in adulthood. An earlier analysi…

BACKGROUND: An equivocal literature exists regarding the relation between persistent organochlorine pollutants (POPs) and endometriosis in women, with differences attributed to methodologies. OBJECTIVES: We assessed the association between…

BACKGROUND: Bisphenol A (BPA) is a synthetic chemical widely used in the production of polycarbonate plastic and epoxy resins found in numerous consumer products. In experimental animals, BPA increases embryo implantation failure and reduce…

BACKGROUND: 2,3,7,8-Tetrachlorodibenzo-para-dioxin (TCDD), a widespread environmental contaminant, disrupts multiple endocrine pathways. The International Agency for Research on Cancer classified TCDD as a known human carcinogen, based on p…

BACKGROUND: Perinatal exposure to low-doses of bisphenol A (BPA) results in alterations in the ovary, uterus, and mammary glands and in a sexually dimorphic region of the brain known to be important for estrous cyclicity. OBJECTIVES: We ai…

BACKGROUND: Human exposure to polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) remains widespread. PCBs have been associated with adverse reproductive health outcomes including reduced fecundability and increased risk of pregnancy loss, although the human …

BACKGROUND: Phthalates are ubiquitous chemicals used in consumer products. Some phthalates are reproductive toxicants in experimental animals, but human data are limited. OBJECTIVE: We conducted a cross-sectional study of urinary phthalate…

BackgroundA single in utero exposure to 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) on gestation day 15 decreased epididymal sperm count in adult rats and thus was used to establish a tolerable daily intake for TCDD. However, several laborat…

BACKGROUND: Phthalates, ubiquitous environmental pollutants that may disturb the endocrine system, are used primarily as plasticizers of polyvinyl chloride and as additives in consumer and personal care products. OBJECTIVES: In this study,…

BACKGROUND: Endometriosis, a gynecologic disorder affecting 8-10% of reproductive-age women in the United States, is defined as the presence of endometrial tissue outside the uterus and is linked to pelvic pain and infertility. Environmenta…

BACKGROUND: Bisphenol A (BPA) is one of the highest-volume chemicals produced worldwide, and human exposure to BPA is thought to be ubiquitous. Thus, there are concerns that the amount of BPA to which humans are exposed may cause adverse he…

BACKGROUND: Endometriosis is a common gynecologic disease characterized by the ectopic growth of endometrial tissue. In industrialized countries, it affects approximately 10% of women of reproductive age. Its etiology is unclear, but a mult…

BACKGROUND: Exposure to endocrine-disrupting chemicals during critical developmental periods causes adverse consequences later in life; an example is prenatal exposure to the pharmaceutical diethylstilbestrol (DES). Bisphenol A (BPA), an en…

BACKGROUND: Environmental toxicants are allegedly involved in decreasing semen quality in recent decades; however, definitive proof is not yet available. In 1976 an accident exposed residents in Seveso, Italy, to 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-…

BACKGROUND: Atrazine is a potent endocrine disruptor that increases aromatase expression in some human cancer cell lines. The mechanism involves the inhibition of phosphodiesterase and subsequent elevation of cAMP. METHODS: We compared ste…

BackgroundAlthough 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) has been associated with alterations in ovarian function and hormones in animals, it has not been studied in humans. On 10 July 1976, an explosion exposed residents of Seveso, It…

Atrazine is a potent endocrine disruptor that both chemically castrates and feminizes male amphibians. It depletes androgens in adult frogs and reduces androgen-dependent growth of the larynx in developing male larvae. It also disrupts norm…

We measured tumor-associated proteins (TAPs) and pollutants in blood, serum, and urine of 200 nonsmoking women 50-65 years of age, residing in the rural municipality of Peer or in Hoboken or Wilrijk, industrial suburbs of Antwerp, Belgium. …