According to a press release published on the web page of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM) on October 14, 2013 two new studies linked food contact materials (FCMs) to adverse effects on conception and pregnancy. In the first study researchers from Stanford University, the University of California San Francisco and the University of Missouri (all U.S.) analyzed bisphenol A (BPA) levels in the blood of 114 women having an early pregnancy test (Lathi et al. 2013). They found the risk of miscarriage to increase with increased serum BPA concentration. In the second study researchers from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, the Texas A&M Rural School of Public Health and the New York State Department of Public Health, New York (all U.S.) assessed the phthalate and BPA levels in the urine of 501 couples trying to become pregnant (Louis et al. 2013). Female partners of men with high levels of phthalates were found to be 20% less likely to conceive within the course of a year. The same association could not be confirmed for women with higher urinary levels of phthalates, nor did higher concentrations of BPA lead to decreased fecundity. ASRM President Linda Guidice commented in the press release that the study of environmental contaminants with an impact of reproductive capacity has shown that high levels of exposure affect infertility patient negatively. She concludes that these chemicals are therefore also of concern to the general population. The two studies were presented at the conjoint meeting of the International Federation of Fertility Societies and the American Society for Reproductive Medicine, which took place in Boston, Massachusetts, U.S. on October 12-17, 2013.

Read more

American Society for Reproductive Medicine (October 14, 2013). “Effects of BPA and Phthalates on Conception and Pregnancy.

Share