Infertility. Early puberty. Decreased sperm counts. Breast & prostate cancers. These are just a few of the reproductive health problems that are increasing in the United States today. More and more evidence implicates that some of these increases are linked to our constant exposure to toxic chemicals, from the air we breathe, to the water we drink, to the everyday products we bring into our homes. But what exactly is the connection?
Find out from scientists on the cutting edge of research on how chemicals such as phthalates, bisphenol A (BPA), perfluorinated compounds, and cadmium are linked to the increase in reproductive health problems. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, we all have some levels of these chemicals in our bodies. No matter how hard we try to avoid them, potentially harmful exposures will remain unless we change federal policy to require safer chemical production.
WHAT: Press Teleconference on Toxic Chemicals & Reproductive Health
WHEN: Thursday, November 18, 1:00 – 2:00 pm EST (10:00-11:00 am PST)
WHO:
- Tracey Woodruff, PhD, MPH, Associate Professor and Director of UCSF’s Program on Reproductive Health and the Environment. Dr. Woodruff conducts research on understanding exposures to environmental chemicals during early development and the implications for adverse health outcomes.
- Linda C. Giudice, MD, PhD is Chair of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). She is a biochemist, gynecologist, and reproductive endocrinologist who specializes clinically in infertility, assisted reproduction, and disorders of the female reproductive tract.
- Molly Gray had two miscarriages before giving birth to a healthy baby boy. Despite eating organic food and trying to avoid toxic chemicals in her home, her blood tested high for 13 toxic chemicals, including mercury, a heavy metal that can cause brain damage to a developing fetus.
- Andy Igrejas, National Campaign Director, Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families, will discuss how proposals to overhaul the 1976 Toxic Substances Control Act could help alleviate some of these serious health problems.