A study in the journal, Human Reproduction, found a direct link between perflourinated chemicals (PFCs) and infertility.
What are PFCs?
PFCs are used in the making of non-stick coating of saucepans and Teflon coated clothing. They are also used to make:
- Pesticides and insecticides, including lawn care products
- Personal care products
- Carpets
- Curtains
- Coverings for sofas
- Food wrappings
- Household cleaners and industrial cleaners.
Manufacturers of such products have always insisted that they are inactive substances which cannot harm, but there is growing scientific evidence to show that this isn't the case.
Researchers blood tested 1,240 Danish women for levels of perfluorooctane and perfluorooctaneoate, two common PFCs.
All the women had become pregnant some time between the years of 1996 and 2002; however, those with the highest concentration of PFCs in their blood took more than a year to get pregnant and were much more likely to have needed fertility treatment to help them conceive.
154% Increased Risk of Infertility
A normal level of PFCs in blood is thought to be 5 parts per billion. Some of the women had blood samples showing a staggering 106.7 per billion. Those with the highest levels had an increased risk of infertility, ranging from 60% to a huge 154%.
Scientists aren't sure why PFCs would have this unfortunate effect, but they speculate that they may be altering female sex hormones.
PFCs Dangerous to Pregnant and Nursing Women
In addition to possibly ruining your fertility, if you do manage to get pregnant, PFCs are known to stunt fetal growth and researchers at the University of Massachusetts in the USA, discovered chemicals from Teflon in the breast milk of nursing mothers.
Milk samples were collected from 45 nursing women and analyzed for nine PFCs and found on average 131 billionths of a gram per litre of milk. This is within known safe limits for the newborn, but as PFCs were previously thought to be harmless, it raises the question of whether our current safe limits are safe and whether exposure to PFCs in utero might cause children to grow up with their own infertility problems.
Breast feeding, however, has far superior immune system benefits for the child, as it contains live white blood cells, and will enable a child to better defend against the effects of PFCs than a bottle fed child.
How to Reduce Your PFC Exposure
- Don't use non-stick cooking pots, particularly if you are breast feeding.
- Don't use chemical pesticides or insecticides on your lawn
- Only buy natural, organic personal care products
- Don't buy clothes sold as stain resistant or non-iron
- Buy food sold loose rather than in plastic packaging
- Ask soft furnishings manufacturers whether their products contain PFCs and try to source ones that don't.
PFCs may affect men in a similar way, so clue up your man on the situation and get him to take similar precautions.
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