Exposure to Environmental Chemicals and Infertility Among US Reproductive-Aged Women

Valerie Martinez, Irene H. Yen, Camila Alvarez, Andrew D. Williams and Sandie Ha ()
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Valerie Martinez: Public Health Department, School of Social Sciences, Humanities and Arts, Health Science Research Institute, University of California, Merced, CA 95343, USA
Irene H. Yen: Public Health Department, School of Social Sciences, Humanities and Arts, Health Science Research Institute, University of California, Merced, CA 95343, USA
Camila Alvarez: Department of Sociology, University of California, San Diego, CA 92122, USA
Andrew D. Williams: Public Health Program, School of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of North Dakota, Grand Forks, ND 58202, USA
Sandie Ha: Public Health Department, School of Social Sciences, Humanities and Arts, Health Science Research Institute, University of California, Merced, CA 95343, USA

IJERPH, 2024, vol. 21, issue 12, 1-17

Abstract: Environmental chemical exposure has been rising over the past few decades but its impact on fertility remains uncertain. We assessed exposures to 23 common chemicals across a range of sociodemographic characteristics and their relationship with self-reported infertility. The analytic sample was non-pregnant women aged 18–49 years without a history of hysterectomy or oophorectomy (n = 2579) from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (2013–2016). Environmental chemical exposure was assessed with biospecimens and dichotomized as high and low levels of exposure based on the median. Logistic regression models estimated the adjusted odds ratio (aOR) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for the association between high levels of exposure and infertility, adjusted for age, race, education level, family income, and smoking status. We observed associations between infertility and cadmium [aOR: 1.88; 95% CI: 1.02–3.47] and arsenic [aOR: 1.88 (1.05–3.36)]. Two pesticides hexachlorobenzene [OR: 2.04 (1.05–3.98)] and oxychlordane [OR: 2.04 (1.12–3.69)] were also associated with infertility in unadjusted analyses. There were negative associations with two Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances with n-perfluorooctanoic acid [aOR: 0.51: (0.30–0.86)] and n-perfluorooctane sulfonic acid [aOR: 0.51: (0.26–0.97). Specific chemicals may contribute to infertility risk, highlighting the need for targeted public health strategies to mitigate exposure.

Keywords: environmental pollutants; cadmium; hexachlorobenzene; oxychlordane; PBB-153; female fertility; reproductive health (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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