IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v21y2024i12p1541-d1525925.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

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

Author

Listed:
  • 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)

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.

Suggested Citation

  • Valerie Martinez & Irene H. Yen & Camila Alvarez & Andrew D. Williams & Sandie Ha, 2024. "Exposure to Environmental Chemicals and Infertility Among US Reproductive-Aged Women," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 21(12), pages 1-17, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:21:y:2024:i:12:p:1541-:d:1525925
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/21/12/1541/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/21/12/1541/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Lewis, L.B. & Sloane, D.C. & Nascimento, L.M. & Diamant, A.L. & Guinyard, J.J. & Yancey, A.K. & Flynn, G., 2005. "African Americans' access to healthy food options in South Los Angeles restaurants," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 95(4), pages 668-673.
    2. Andrea L. Deierlein & Alexis R. Grayon & Xiaotong Zhu & Yanwen Sun & Xun Liu & Kaelyn Kohlasch & Cheryl R. Stein, 2022. "Personal Care and Household Cleaning Product Use among Pregnant Women and New Mothers during the COVID-19 Pandemic," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(9), pages 1-12, May.
    3. Mikati, I. & Benson, A.F. & Luben, T.J. & Sacks, J.D. & Richmond-Bryant, J., 2018. "Disparities in distribution of particulate matter emission sources by race and poverty status," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 108(4), pages 480-485.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Shervin Assari & Maryam Moghani Lankarani, 2018. "Educational Attainment Promotes Fruit and Vegetable Intake for Whites but Not Blacks," J, MDPI, vol. 1(1), pages 1-13, June.
    2. Lawrence A. Palinkas & Jessenia De Leon & Kexin Yu & Erika Salinas & Cecilia Fernandez & Jill Johnston & Md Mostafijur Rahman & Sam J. Silva & Michael Hurlburt & Rob S. McConnell & Erika Garcia, 2023. "Adaptation Resources and Responses to Wildfire Smoke and Other Forms of Air Pollution in Low-Income Urban Settings: A Mixed-Methods Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(7), pages 1-16, April.
    3. Rachel Meltzer & Jenny Schuetz, 2012. "Bodegas or Bagel Shops? Neighborhood Differences in Retail and Household Services," Economic Development Quarterly, , vol. 26(1), pages 73-94, February.
    4. Jill Furzer & Boriana Miloucheva, 2020. "The Long Arm of the Clean Air Act: Pollution Abatement and COVID-19 Racial Disparities," Working Papers tecipa-668, University of Toronto, Department of Economics.
    5. Andre M. Eanes & Todd R. Lookingbill & Jeremy S. Hoffman & Kelly C. Saverino & Stephen S. Fong, 2020. "Assessing Inequitable Urban Heat Islands and Air Pollution Disparities with Low-Cost Sensors in Richmond, Virginia," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(23), pages 1-18, December.
    6. Shatakshee Dhongde & Robert Haveman, 2022. "Spatial and Temporal Trends in Multidimensional Poverty in the United States over the Last Decade," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 163(1), pages 447-472, August.
    7. Vijay S. Limaye, 2021. "Making the climate crisis personal through a focus on human health," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 166(3), pages 1-11, June.
    8. Senem Kozaman Som & Betul Sengezer & Ayse Nur Okten, 2011. "The Changing Structure of Mass Housing Development in Istanbul," ERSA conference papers ersa10p1399, European Regional Science Association.
    9. Jelonia T. Rumph & Victoria R. Stephens & Joanie L. Martin & LaKendria K. Brown & Portia L. Thomas & Ayorinde Cooley & Kevin G. Osteen & Kaylon L. Bruner-Tran, 2022. "Uncovering Evidence: Associations between Environmental Contaminants and Disparities in Women’s Health," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(3), pages 1-22, January.
    10. Geoff Boeing & Yougeng Lu & Clemens Pilgram, 2023. "Local inequities in the relative production of and exposure to vehicular air pollution in Los Angeles," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 60(12), pages 2351-2368, September.
    11. Gabriela O. Chiciudean & Rezhen Harun & Iulia C. Muresan & Felix H. Arion & Daniel I. Chiciudean & Garofita L. Ilies & Diana E. Dumitras, 2019. "Assessing the Importance of Health in Choosing a Restaurant: An Empirical Study from Romania," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(12), pages 1-15, June.
    12. Wilson H. McNeil & Jason Porzio & Fan Tong & Robert A. Harley & Maximilian Auffhammer & Corinne D. Scown, 2025. "Impact of truck electrification on air pollution disparities in the United States," Nature Sustainability, Nature, vol. 8(3), pages 276-286, March.
    13. Joshua F. Ceñido & C. Freeman & Shahrzad Bazargan-Hejazi, 2019. "Environmental Interventions for Physical and Mental Health: Challenges and Opportunities for Greater Los Angeles," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(12), pages 1-14, June.
    14. Han, Jeehee & Schwartz, Amy Ellen & Elbel, Brian, 2020. "Does proximity to fast food cause childhood obesity? Evidence from public housing," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    15. Yanelli Nunez & Jaime Benavides & Jenni A. Shearston & Elena M. Krieger & Misbath Daouda & Lucas R. F. Henneman & Erin E. McDuffie & Jeff Goldsmith & Joan A. Casey & Marianthi-Anna Kioumourtzoglou, 2024. "An environmental justice analysis of air pollution emissions in the United States from 1970 to 2010," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-13, December.
    16. Gavin Pereira, 2022. "A Simple Method to Establish Sufficiency and Stability in Meta-Analyses: With Application to Fine Particulate Matter Air Pollution and Preterm Birth," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(4), pages 1-12, February.
    17. Champagne, Marie-Pier & Dubé, Jean & Barla, Philippe, 2022. "Build it and they will come: How does a new public transit station influence building construction?," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 100(C).
    18. Sanghyo Kim & Kyei-Im Lee & Seong-Yoon Heo & Seung-Chul Noh, 2020. "Identifying Food Deserts and People with Low Food Access, and Disparities in Dietary Habits and Health in Korea," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(21), pages 1-21, October.
    19. Susan Bagwell, 2011. "The Role of Independent Fast-Food Outlets in Obesogenic Environments: A Case Study of East London in the UK," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 43(9), pages 2217-2236, September.
    20. Alan C. Logan & Susan L. Prescott, 2017. "Astrofood, Priorities and Pandemics: Reflections of an Ultra-Processed Breakfast Program and Contemporary Dysbiotic Drift," Challenges, MDPI, vol. 8(2), pages 1-24, September.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:21:y:2024:i:12:p:1541-:d:1525925. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.