Inescapable ‘forever chemicals’ hurt pregnancy odds: ‘Warning to women’

Ubiquitous toxic chemicals — found in cookware, cosmetics and clothing, to name just a few commonplace items — may be the reason why some women are struggling to conceive and give birth.

Researchers based in the US and Singapore have found the presence of PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) in the blood of would-be mothers may decrease their odds of getting pregnant or giving birth by up to 40%.

The new study followed 1,032 Singaporean women for approximately one year as they attempted to get pregnant, with the findings published in the Science of The Total Environment journal.

“The results of our study should serve as a warning to women everywhere about the potentially harmful effects of PFAS when they are planning to conceive,” the lead author, Dr. Nathan Cohen, a postdoctoral environmental medicine and public health research fellow at New York’s Mount Sinai hospitals, said in a statement.

The research team noted that while other studies have shown PFAS impair reproductive functionality in female mice, the Mount Sinai investigation is one of the first to determine the chemicals’ affect on human fertility.

“PFAS can disrupt our reproductive hormones and have been linked with delayed puberty onset and increased risks for endometriosis and polycystic ovary syndrome in few previous studies,” Dr. Damaskini Valvi, of Mount Sinai, explained in a statement.

“What our study adds is that PFAS may also decrease fertility in women who are generally healthy and are naturally trying to conceive.”

The participants, aged 18 to 45, agreed to submit blood samples between 2015 and 2017 for testing of just seven of the most prevalent PFAS types.

Researchers found that women with higher levels of these chemicals — especially perfluorodecanoic acid — were 30% to 40% less likely to achieve a successful pregnancy.

The study was limited by the fact that only women were analyzed, leaving the possibility that PFAS — or other factors — could have had an impact on the father’s fertility, too.

Moreover, the mechanism by which these toxic substances harm reproductive processes remains to be understood — though experts believe it has something to do with how PFAS disrupt the body’s hormonal balance.

PFAS have become omnipresent in manufacturing for their plasticizing qualities, which help make products more durable and resistant to fire, grease and water.

Dubbed “forever chemicals,” this class of some 9,000 compounds — and counting — are known to survive for thousands of years in the environment and can already be found in the blood of virtually every American, according to some tests.

What’s more: They’ve been identified in seemingly every type of product, including food packaging, pots and pans, goods for personal hygiene, home cleaners, upholstery and carpeting, paint and flooring.

Their prevalence across all sectors of industry means that PFAS are also finding their way into our food and water supply.

Scientists have only just begun their investigation into the harmful effects of PFAS, yet what they’ve found so far is already cause for concern.

They have already been linked to a variety of diseases and health conditions, including autism, ADHD, asthma, obesity, diabetes and several types of cancer.

Last week, the Environmental Protection Agency moved to drastically limit six types of PFAS found in drinking water — including perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), which the Mount Sinai researchers linked to infertility.

The agency hopes the step will “prevent thousands of deaths and reduce tens of thousands of serious PFAS-attributable illnesses.”

EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan vows to “aggressively confront” the issue as “communities across [the US] have suffered far too long from the ever-present threat of PFAS pollution.”