handling pesticides and female infertility

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Exposure to Agricultural Pesticides Linked to Female Infertility

(Beyond Pesticides, September 5, 2003) According to the Manitowoc Herald Times

Reporter, a recent study released September 3 shows that women who handle

pesticides or fungicides in the two-year period before trying to have a baby

significantly increase their chances of infertility. The researchers at

Marshfield Clinic Research Foundation found that infertile women were 27 more

times likely to have mixed and applied such chemicals than women who had

become

pregnant, according to chief researcher Anne Greenlee.

The exposure to many farm chemicals can affect a woman's production of eggs

and

how they mature and can influence whether an embryo can implant. " Women

contemplating pregnancy and who may be exposed to pesticides on the job should

consider precautions such as respirators, gloves and protective clothing to

reduce unintentional exposures, " Dr. Greenlee told the Manitowoc Herald Times

Reporter.

The study, which began in 1997, involved 644 women ages 18 to 35, mostly from

central Wisconsin, who had either sought treatment at Marshfield Clinic for

infertility or sought prenatal care because they were in their first trimester

of pregnancy and had conceived in less than 12 months of trying. The study

included 233 women who lived on a farm, ranch or a rural home, she said. The

rest lived in cities or villages. About 100 women in the study handled

pesticides or fungicides, some in growing plants or gardens. For the two years

before a couple began trying to conceive a child, the study identified mixing

and applying herbicides and using fungicides as an occupational risk to

becoming pregnant.

The study also found the following three lifestyle choices played a role:

steadily gaining weight during adult life, which can affect the cycling of

female hormones; exposure to passive cigarette smoke one to five hours a week,

which can influence egg quality and whether the egg can be fertilized; and,

having a male partner older than 41, which can affect sperm and semen

quality.

The entire story is available at the Manitowoc Herald Times Reporter website.

The abstract is available at

<http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/>www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov.

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