Proceedings of the Summit on Environmental Challenges to Reproductive Health and Fertility: executive summary

Woodruff, Tracey J.; Carlson, Alison; Schwartz, Jackie M.; Giudice, Linda C.

doi:10.1016/j.fertnstert.2007.10.002

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Volume 89, Issue 2 , Pages 281-300, February 2008

Proceedings of the Summit on Environmental Challenges to Reproductive Health and Fertility: executive summary

Tracey J. Woodruff, Ph.D., M.P.H.
- Program on Reproductive Health and the Environment, National Center of Excellence in Women's Health, Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences, University of California, San Francisco, California
- Reprint requests: Tracey Woodruff, Ph.D., M.P.H., Program on Reproductive Health and the Environment, Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Sciences, University of California, San Francisco, CA 94143.
Alison Carlson
- Collaborative on Health and the Environment, Bolinas, California
Jackie M. Schwartz, M.P.H.
- Program on Reproductive Health and the Environment, National Center of Excellence in Women's Health, Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences, University of California, San Francisco, California
Linda C. Giudice, M.D., Ph.D.
- Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences, University of California, San Francisco, California

Received 3 October 2007; received in revised form 3 October 2007; accepted 3 October 2007.

The 2007 Summit on Environmental Challenges to Reproductive Health and Fertility convened scientists, health care professionals, community groups, political representatives, and the media to hear presentations on the impact of environmental contaminants on reproductive health and fertility, and to discuss opportunities to improve health through research, education, communication, and policy. Environmental reproductive health focuses on exposures to environmental contaminants, particularly during critical periods of development, and their potential effects on future reproductive health, including conception, fertility, pregnancy, adolescent development, and adult health. Approximately 87,000 chemical substances are registered for commercial use in the United States, with ubiquitous human exposures to environmental contaminants in air, water, food, and consumer products. Exposures during critical windows of susceptibility may result in adverse effects with lifelong and even intergenerational health impacts. Effects can include impaired development and function of the reproductive tract and permanently altered gene expression, leading to metabolic and hormonal disorders, reduced fertility and fecundity, and illnesses such as testicular, prostate, uterine, and cervical cancers later in life. This executive summary reviews effects of pre- and postnatal exposures on male and female reproductive health, and provides a series of recommendations for advancing the field in the areas of research, policy, health care, and community action.

Key Words: Environmental contaminants, reproductive health, endocrine disrupting chemicals, fertility, fecundity, hormone disruption, sperm quality, reproductive tract development