How Plastics Affect your Fertility
Plastics have been shown to interfere with hormonal health, with far reaching fertility and foetal health effects. They are known as endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDC’S) as they mimic oestrogen in the body and can change the way your hormones work. EDC have been found to:
- Reduce sex hormones – lower levels of LH, reduce and increased levels of estrogen and testosterone.
- Reduce mature oocytes and are linked with poor ovulations rates – lower levels of mature eggs
- Linked to poor IVF outcomes – reduce embryo development
- Linked with Fibroid development
- Linked with endometriosis
- Shorter cycles
- A mother’s exposure is linked with female child developing PCOS in later life
This is not only the case for women but for men as well. A recent study found that men who have been exposed in utero to certain levels of EDC’s are twice more likely to have semen volume and total sperm count per ejaculation below the reference values set by the WHO.
Solution –
Avoid plastics where possible, especially in food or cooking –
- Use instead stainless steel or glass drink bottles only, and especially avoid plastics with the numbers 1,3, 6 and 7 featured on their base.
- Never heat food in plastic containers or covered in plastic wrap – use ceramic or glass containers instead.
- Avoid all plastic-coated pans, pots etc. BPA free plastics are not safe plastics, the compounds they replaced BPA with has been found to cause the same damage as BPA. NO PLASTIC IS SAFE.
- Avoid fish at the top of the food chain to reduce contaminant levels, the bigger the fish the larger the amount of heavy metals and chemicals/ EDC’s. A recent piece of research tested fish from lakes, rivers and seas around the world they found that all the fish they tested came back with levels of EDC’s.
- Filter your drinking and cooking water.
Hidden EDC’s – skincare is often very high in EDC’s.
Try to use natural, certified organic cosmetics, skin and hair care products.
For testing of toxin levels or EDC’s or further information on your fertility please book in with Samantha here.
