We are clearly seeing a decline in our fertility and increased rates of poor birth outcomes and birth defects as well as increased rates of childhood diseases (such as autism). We must turn our attention to other factors that include the environment as possible contributors to these trends.
I can’t do a better job than the authors of the articles listed below in describing how the environment affects our fertility. Both articles are must reads. Written for health care providers, but easily read by those of you who are not.
The article below was published in September 2012 in American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology. If you don’t have time to read the whole article, just go to page 3 and look at the table that shows the relationship between commonly found chemicals in our environment and their reproductive/developmental health impacts.
Page 20 of this publication has a great summary of how toxins in the environment can affect our fertility: http://www.cumulativeimpacts.org/documents/June.pdf
This link will have data about your cosmetics and other personal care products: http://www.ewg.org/skindeep/
Hope this helps!
Dr. Aimee, Thank you for positing these articles and increasing awareness. It’s disappointing to know even the leading brands of cosmetics are not safe enough; mainly due to poor regulations in cosmetic industries. Same holds true for nutraceuticals where people might be taking supplements to improve health but do not know how well these formulations are tested for toxic impurities such as heavy metals. Hope to see more and more regulatory policies to protect environment and improve standards of consumables.