Study: Packaging Chemical May Hinder Fertility

A study has found that perfluorinated chemicals (PFCs), which are used in areas such as food packaging, pesticides, clothing, carpets and personal care products, may be linked to infertility in women.

The University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) study of 1,240 women has found that those with higher levels of PFCs in their bloodstreams tend to take longer to become pregnant than those with lower levels.

The findings were published in the journal Human Reproduction today.

PFCs are found in grease-resistant packaging such as microwave popcorn bags and pizza boxes; they are also used in manufacturing processes, for instance for industrial surfactants and emulsifiers.

According to the authors, blood samples were taken at the time of the women’s first antenatal visit so that concentrations of the perfluorinated chemicals PFOS and PFOA could be measured.

The researchers said they also interviewed the women at around the 12th week of pregnancy to find out whether the pregnancy was planned or not and how long it took them to become pregnant.

Infertility was defined as a time to pregnancy of longer than 12 months or infertility treatment to establish the current pregnancy, and the results were adjusted for potential confounding factors such as age, lifestyle and socio-economic status, continued the report.

The levels of PFOS in the women’s plasma ranged from 6.4 nanograms per millilitre (ng/ml) to 106.7 ng/ml and from less than 1 ng/ml to 41.5 ng/ml for PFOA, the researchers found.

The team divided the women’s levels of PFOS/PFOA into four quartiles, and found that, compared with women with the lowest levels of exposure, the likelihood of infertility increased by 70-134 per cent for women in the higher three quartiles of PFOS exposure and by 60-154 per cent for those in the higher three quartiles of PFOA exposure.

Source: FoodProductionDaily.com