Some common chemical substances consumed in daily life can interfere with a couple's chances of conceiving a child, researchers say.
A team of researchers from National Institutes of Health (NIH) found couples with high level of PCBs and other environmental pollutants struggling to have children. PCBs are one of the ingredients of chemical substances known as persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs). PCBs are banned in U.S. citing the risks they pose to the environment and human beings.
However, it's still present in water, air and in the environment-waste sites, improper industrial wastes and burning of some wastes. Humans are exposed to the chemical regularly. According to health experts, it takes many years, sometimes 20 years to be cleared from the body.
Dr. Germain Buck Louis and colleagues looked at 501 couples, part of the Longitudinal Investigation of Fertility and the Environment (LIFE) study, to examine the link between infertility, lifestyle and exposure to some common pollutants like PCBs, persistent lipophilic organochlorine pollutants and perfluorochemicals or PFCs (used in clothing, food packaging, non-stick cookware, insulation of electrical wire and food packaging).
Researchers collected blood samples from all the participants to measure the level of PCBs and PFCs in their body. Women participants recorded details about monthly menstrual cycles and home pregnancy tests. At the end of the study, the investigators found high exposure to PCBs and other pollutants cutting down pregnancy chances by 20 percent.
"Our findings suggest that persistent organochlorine pollutants may play a role in pregnancy delay," the study's first author, Dr. Germain Buck Louis, said in a news release.
However, according to the authors exposure to multiple chemicals may be playing an important role in this occurrence.
To reduce the exposure and to avoid the negative impact, the authors recommend people to avoid or minimize consumption of fish, meat and animal products.
The study has been published online in Environmental Health Perspectives.
