Prolonged exposure to polybrominated diphenyl ethers or PBDE, a chemical found in common household objects can dampen female fertility making them take twice as long to conceive, warn results of an American study.
Besides conception problems, such contact commonly made while doing household cleaning or dusting, may also raise a woman’s chances of suffering from a variety of health problems, researchers add.
The chemical, used as a flame retardant, is usually found in household objects like foam furniture, electronics, fabrics, carpets and plastics.
The study
The study embarked by the researchers from the Center for Children's Environmental Health Research at the University of California Berkeley School of Public Health enrolled 223 pregnant women.
All participants were questioned on the time taken by them to conceive. Also, by the end of second trimester, each participant underwent a blood screening, measuring their PBDE levels.
Findings of the study
The average time taken to conceive was recorded at 3 months.
"But some took 10 years or more," study’s lead researcher Kim Harley, adjunct assistant professor of maternal and child health and associate director of the Center for Children’s Environment Health Research said.
Likewise, the blood PBDE levels, recorded in nanograms per gram of fat, ranged from 3 to 1,200, Harley noted.
A close comparison between conception time and blood PBDE levels revealed that women with higher blood levels of PBDE took about twice as long to conceive compared to women with lower blood levels.
"For every tenfold increase in PBDEs in the blood, we saw a 30 percent to 50 percent decrease in the odds of becoming pregnant in any given month" Harley averred.
"It’s a pretty strong effect. They can all become pregnant, but they all had very different amounts of time it took them to become pregnant" she added.
The linkup
Though the exact reason behind impaired female fertility upon chemical exposure is not known, past studies have linked PBDE exposure to disrupted thyroid functioning. Such abnormal thyroid functioning alters normal menstrual patterns affecting fertility, researchers explain.
Advice to women
As old household articles is the main source of PBDE exposure, researchers advice women and teenage girls not to reupholster foam-filled furniture themselves.
"The PBDEs are in the foam and can leach out. Limiting exposure to old carpet padding, which is often recycled foam, is also helpful," said Sonya Lunder, a senior analyst at the Environmental Working Group marks.
When you are replacing carpet, get women and children out of the house" Lunder says. "The exposure concern is not limited to its effect on fertility, but also to children's development."
The results of the study feature in the Jan. 26 issue of the Journal, Environmental Health Perspectives.
source: themoneytimes
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