Thursday 29 November 2007

Can car exhaust fumes cause infertility?

New research from Canada suggests that mothers who are exposed to certain pollutants before they get pregnant could have less fertile daughters.

The pollutants involved are known as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and they're found in cigarette smoke, car exhaust fumes and woodsmoke as well as charred and smoked food. The Canadian research suggests that when mothers are exposed to these, their daughters have fewer eggs in their ovaries.

Given the levels of car exhaust fumes many of us live with in towns and cities, this would suggest a somewhat gloomy outlook for the future, but it is worth noting that the research evidence was based on an animal rather than a human study. If you want to read more, see this link

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