Friday, 30 January 2009

Could household products be damaging your fertility?

New research suggests that some chemicals used widely in consumer products could be causing infertility. A team from the United States checked amount of these chemicals in women's blood, and found that those with high levels took much longer to conceive.

The chemicals, known as perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) and perfluorooctanoate (PFOA) are used in all kinds of household products and may be found in clothing, upholstery, carpets and toiletries as well as pesticides. They are also used in manufacturing, and we're all exposed to them to some degree. They were introduced in the 1950s, and have since been found to have toxic effects on animals, and have been associated with miscarriage.

You can read the research paper, which is published in the journal Human Reproduction here.

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