A woman wears a mask as she walks in a street on the 3rd day of a "red alert" for pollution in Beijing on Dec 21, 2015. (Image Credit: REUTERS)

Researchers: Air pollution may affect a woman’s ovaries

Faradita Prayusti
Social & Life
Weather
Jun 26, 2019
1899
Female reproductive health may be influenced by environmental factors, including air pollution can cause a declining in the activity of a woman’s ovaries, said experts and researchers.

It said that women might have a less period to reproduce in their life and earlier menopause due to the pollution.

According to Antonio La Marca, the study’s lead researcher from the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia in Italy said that people have to be concerned about indoor and outdoor surroundings since environmental aspects are important for our lives.

The data on a study of the level of a hormone produced by ovaries named AMH, presented at the annual meeting of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology showed that AMH gives information of a woman’s ovaries reserve – the quantity of the ovary to generate egg cells.

The capacity may vary from one woman to another because it is affected by several factors, such as genetics, age, and smoking.
Previous studies had shown there might be a connection between higher level of air pollution and declined fertility in women, said La Marca.

La Marca and team conducted research in Modena to gain more information about AMH level in about 1,300 women by collecting samples between early 2007 and fall 2017.

The levels of AMH inside the blood for samples over 25-years-olds decreased due to their age. After considering the age, the team found that the amount of their AMH was lower among women who stayed in places with higher levels of dirty air.

When the team more specifically divided the air pollution grades into four levels, the researchers found the samples who live in the worst pollution were two to three times more likely to have AMH levels under 1ng/ml – an extremely low ovarian reserve according to the team.

Air pollution is not only dangerous for women but also for the entire human race, as the 2019 State of Global Air (SOGA) reported that air pollution is the fifth major factor in the increasing number of death rate worldwide. The pollution is more responsible than death caused by drugs, alcohol, and malnutrition.

Source: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/jun/25/air-pollution-may-affect-number-of-eggs-ovaries-can-produce

Air , Pollution , Woman , Fertility , Ovaries , Health