Female Fertility and Environmental Pollution

Rita Canipari, Lucia De Santis and Sandra Cecconi
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Rita Canipari: DAHFMO, Unit of Histology and Medical Embryology, Sapienza, University of Rome, 00161 Rome, Italy
Lucia De Santis: San Raffaele Scientific Institute, IRCCS H.S.Raffaele, 20132 Milano, Italy
Sandra Cecconi: Dipartimento di Medicina Clinica, Sanità Pubblica, Scienze della Vita e dell’Ambiente, Università degli Studi dell’Aquila, 67100 L’Aquila, Italy

IJERPH, 2020, vol. 17, issue 23, 1-18

Abstract: A realistic picture of our world shows that it is heavily polluted everywhere. Coastal regions and oceans are polluted by farm fertilizer, manure runoff, sewage and industrial discharges, and large isles of waste plastic are floating around, impacting sea life. Terrestrial ecosystems are contaminated by heavy metals and organic chemicals that can be taken up by and accumulate in crop plants, and water tables are heavily contaminated by untreated industrial discharges. As deadly particulates can drift far, poor air quality has become a significant global problem and one that is not exclusive to major industrialized cities. The consequences are a dramatic impairment of our ecosystem and biodiversity and increases in degenerative or man-made diseases. In this respect, it has been demonstrated that environmental pollution impairs fertility in all mammalian species. The worst consequences are observed for females since the number of germ cells present in the ovary is fixed during fetal life, and the cells are not renewable. This means that any pollutant affecting hormonal homeostasis and/or the reproductive apparatus inevitably harms reproductive performance. This decline will have important social and economic consequences that can no longer be overlooked.

Keywords: ovary; hormones; endocrine disruptors; environmental pollution; heavy metals; female reproduction (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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