Today is Blog Action Day

Happy Blog Action Day! Today, 14,815 blogs around the world are focused on one thing: the environment. One day, one issue, thousands of voices. That’s the idea. But the more I look, the more important information I find. Fertility Notes will actually be discussing fertility and environmental factors all this week.

It seems obvious that if the environment, if Mother Earth herself is out of whack, then that may have some impact on our ability to procreate as well. If my Polish weren’t so rusty, perhaps I could translate this 2006 Study done by Stefankiewicz, Kurzawa and Drozdzik. For now, I’ll just need to rely on the National Institutes of Health abstract:

Various chemical substances which appear in the environment may disturb fertility of men. Polluted soil, water and air are the sources of constant exposure to xenobiotics. Substances disturbing hormonal balance (endocrine disruptors) such as pesticide, dioxins and organic solvents cause the highest danger. Improper work conditions such as too high temperature, radiation, exposure to harmful substances also have negative influence on reproductive abilities of men.

The NIH lists environmental toxins as possible factors in infertility for both men and women. An ASRM study done in Sao Paolo, Brazil links urban levels of air pollution and a decrease in the male-female sex ratio at birth for mice and humans. There’s that mice/men connection again.

I’ve already discussed nutrition and eating habits as fertility factors, but what about ingredients that are outside the scope of things one willfully puts into one’s body? Like plastics. Yep. If you’re American, odds are you already have a significant amount of plastics in your bodies. Don’t recall gnawing on that big piece?

According to a September 10^th LA Times article,

Recent widely publicized studies have shown that plastics are not only ubiquitous in the environment (marine researchers have shown that plastic debris outweighs zooplankton in remote parts of the Pacific), but are found in the bodies of nearly all Americans too. Scientists have hypothesized that chemicals in certain plastics may be linked to such conditions as asthma and even obesity. But most of the research, and the strongest evidence, points to effects that certain plastics chemicals appear to exert on the reproductive system. Findings are still considered preliminary (existing studies are small and few), but reports are enough to make consumers ask: Are plastics safe?

We don’t know. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) have spent the last few years trying to learn more about phthalates, a chemical included in most plastics and also in some personal care products. Studies show that these chemicals are toxic in animals, but there is still nothing conclusive to say about humans. But, the same LA Times article notes:

In a study of men seeking fertility diagnoses at a Massachusetts hospital, for example, men with the highest levels of a particular phthalate (monobutyl phthalate) were more than three times as likely to have a low sperm count than men with the lowest levels of the phthalate. A separate study of men at a Massachusetts infertility clinic found that men with higher levels of mono-(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate had about 50% more sperm DNA damage than men with the lowest bodily levels of the chemical.

Several years ago, the British Women’s Environmental Network (WEN) launched a campaign against companies that produce cosmetic products that contain phthalates and parabens. According to WEN and affirmed by folks like toxicologist Dr. Gary Ginsberg , parabens, which are used as preservatives in several different types of cosmetics, have been linked to dermatitis, allergies, and more importantly, hormone disruptions. Parabens can act as estrogen mimics, which can increase odds of breast cancer and cause all kinds of other issues.

Regarding phthalates, 2005 WEN press release states, There seems to be a growing body of evidence that these are a threat to fertility and reproductive health, and we don’t believe that chemicals that are any kind of threat to fertility – whether the case is absolutely proven or not – should be in personal-care products.

Please don’t think I am encouraging everyone to go home, throw out their lipstick, ditch their deodorants, cease combing your hair and go run among the flowers. Good lordessa no! This Blog Action Day post is simply asking you to be more aware of what’s in your lipstick, your antiperspirants and other beauty and hair care products before you use them and to make informed decisions. No reason not to look nice as we go out and try to effect change on other environmental factors that affect our bodies and our lives.