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Declining Rates of Fertility and Epigenetics Research
By Trevor | November 12, 2006
The Focus article in the November 2006 issue of Environmental Health Perspectives, entitled “Fertile Grounds for Inquiry: Environmental Effects on Human Reproduction,” is an interesting read for those interested in the reproductive effects of environmental toxicants and epigenetics.
- At a time when at least 80 million people worldwide are estimated to be affected by infertility, scientists are starting to look closely at how exposures to environmental substances may affect the ability of a couple to achieve a healthy pregnancy. Studies of wildlife and laboratory animals are helping to pin down how exposure to chemicals such as endocrine disruptors affects reproductive development, while human studies are looking at genetic effects, the effects of multicompound exposures, and the potential contribution of agricultural pesticides and persistent organic pollutants to problems such as low sperm counts and altered sex ratios. However, a thorough exploration of environmental effects on fertility will require the expertise of many different disciplines.
This paper came out of the lab of Dr. Michael Skinner, and two follow-up papers were recently published in the journal Endocrinology, which will be reviewed here in the near future. Link
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