Environmental Impacts on Reproductive Health and Fertility

by Edited by Tracey J. Woodruff , Sarah J. Janssen , Louis J. Guillette, Jr , Linda C. Giudice

• ISBN13: 9780521519526
• ISBN10: 0521519527
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2010-03-15
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Summary

Many reproductive and developmental health problems are caused by exposure to chemicals that are widely dispersed in our environment. These problems include infertility, miscarriage, poor pregnancy outcomes, abnormal fetal development, early puberty, endometriosis, and diseases and cancers of reproductive organs. The compelling nature of the collective science has resulted in recognition of a new field of environmental reproductive health. Focusing on exposures to environmental contaminants, particularly during critical periods in development and their potential effects on all aspects of future reproductive life-course, this book provides the first comprehensive source of information bringing together the arguments that are spread out among various scientific disciplines in environmental health, clinical and public health fields. It provides a review of the science in key areas of the relationship between environmental contaminants and reproductive health outcomes, and recommendations on efforts toward prevention in clinical care and public policy.

Author Biography

Tracey J. Woodruff is Associate Professor and Director, Program on Reproductive Health and the Environment, Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive sciences, university of California, San Francisco, USA. Sarah J. Janssen IS Staff Scientist, Natural Resources Defense Council And Assistant clinical Professor, Department of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, USA. Louis J. Guillette Jr is Distinguished Professor of Biology, Department of Biology, University of Florida, Gainesville, Fl, USA. Linda C. Giudice is Professor and Chair, Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive sciences, The Robert B. Jaffe, M.D. Endowed Professor in the Reproductive Sciences, University of California, San Francisco, USA.

Table of Contents

List of contributors	p. vii
Preface	p. xi
Introduction	p. 1
Environmental contaminants and exposure	p. 8
Development and maturation of the normal female reproductive system	p. 23
Ovary	p. 23
Oviduct and uterus	p. 29
Breast	p. 36
Development and maturation of the normal male reproductive system	p. 48
Modern genetics of reproductive biology	p. 60
Mechanisms of endocrine disruption	p. 72
Developmental exposures and implications for early and latent disease	p. 92
Wildlife as sentinels of environmental impacts on reproductive health and fertility	p. 103
Environmental contaminants and effects on timing and progression of human pubertal development	p. 115
Environmental contaminants and impacts on healthy and successful pregnancies	p. 125
Environmental contaminants and the reproductive and fertility effects in the male	p. 145
Introduction	p. 145
Possible role of fetal exposure	p. 147
Adult exposure and effects on fertility	p. 154
Environmental contaminants, female reproductive health and fertility	p. 161
Environmental contaminants and related systems that have implications for reproduction	p. 173
The neuroendocrine system	p. 173
The thyroid system	p. 180
The immune system	p. 188
Environmental contaminants and cancers of the reproductive tract	p. 194
Communicating with patients and the public about environmental exposures and reproductive risk	p. 214
Interpreting science in the policy context	p. 227
Conclusions–what does all this mean, and where are we going?	p. 240
Index	p. 243
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