Dangers Of Exposure To Environmental Toxins

Last October in Honolulu at the conference of the American Fertility Society, we held a roundtable conference of 20 professors and experts in fertility. At the end of the meeting, we reinforced a position taken on October 2013 by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologist on the heath impact of environmental toxins. Recently, at the Pullman Hotel in Paris Merch Serono 360 degree meeting, 60 experts drawn from IVF clinics worldwide discussed, among other issues, dangers posed by environmental toxins. In Nigeria, our environmental control measures are very minimal and the health impact has been very alarming. I therefore want to reiterate this issue for our benefit. In 2008, I did a review of the reproductive health hazard in our environment in order to warn people to protect themselves from environmental toxins. It’s a preventive measure for preserving fertility. A more detailed and scientific review of these reproductive hazards was published in the African Journal of Reproductive Medicine in 2009. The thrust of the review is for us to be updated on the consequences of such toxins, how to avoid them and how to reduce the health consequences of the avoidable. In October 2013, The American College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists published an opinion in the Fertility and Sterility Journal. The highlight of their opinion was a unique overview of the imminent dangers. The scientists warn that, “Reducing exposure to toxic environmental agents is a critical area of intervention for obstetricians, gynaecologists and other reproductive health care professionals. “Patient exposure to toxic environmental chemicals and other stressors is ubiquitous, and preconception and prenatal exposure to toxic environmental agents can have a profound and lasting effect on reproductive health across the life course.” Prenatal exposure to certain chemicals has been documented to increase the risk of cancer in childhood. Adult male exposure to pesticides is linked to altered semen quality, sterility, and prostate cancer; while postnatal exposure to some pesticides can interfere with all developmental stages of reproductive function in adult females, including puberty, menstruation and ovulation, fertility and fecundity, and menopause. Many environmental factors harmful to reproductive health disproportionately affect vulnerable and underserved populations, which leaves some populations, including underserved women, more vulnerable to adverse reproductive health effects than other populations. The evidence that links exposure to toxic environmental agents and adverse reproductive and developmental health outcomes is sufficiently robust, and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists and the American Society for Reproductive Medicine join leading scientists and other clinical practitioners in calling for timely action to identify and reduce exposure to toxic environmental agents while addressing the consequences of such exposure. Simply put: there are toxins in our environment that not only affect our ability to have babies, but also the fertility potential of our yet unborn babies. They may cause cancer of several organs such as the breast, prostate and colon. When combined with toxins in our food, the consequences are ominous. The report gave the statistics for United States of America by stating that exposure to environmental chemicals and metals in air, water, soil, food, and consumer products is ubiquitous. An analysis of National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey data from 2003-2004 found that virtually every pregnant woman in the United States is exposed to at least 43 different chemicals. Chemicals in pregnant women can cross the placenta, and in some cases, such as with methyl mercury, they can accumulate in the foetus, resulting in higher foetal exposure than maternal exposure. Prenatal exposure to environmental chemicals is linked to various adverse health consequences, and patient exposure at any point in time can lead to harmful reproductive health outcomes. If we extrapolate that statistics to Nigeria where our environment is subjected to more insults like oil pollution, diesel fumes, automobile exhaust, kerosene fumes, telephone mast radiations, the use of cell phone, lagoon and sea pollution, toxic waste deposits, industrial pollution, unregulated farming, low environmental protection regulation, and many other forms of environmental contamination, then one can appreciate the fact that the severity is more in our nation. Modern Mayr medicine that uses several infrastructure to determine possible environmental toxins in people show that almost 85 per cent of over 600 guests who came for analysis and detoxification had heavy metals and other toxins such as mercury, lead, arsenic, aviation fuel, kerosene, diesel fumes, oil fumes, radiation and electromagnetic levels, to mention but a few. In my opinion, the solution to this health disaster should follow this process. The first is a prevention plan where the vulnerable population must be given adequate information and education on the variety of outdoor air pollution, indoor pollutants, including lead, allergens such as dust mite, chemical pollutions, radiation and other forms of environmental waste. The next form of pollution is from ingested food, especially fresh fruits, vegetables, unprocessed foods and some large fish as well as other occupational hazards such as petrochemicals, polyethylene and polyvinyl carbons, paint fumes and several others. Several health professionals must join us to educate the citizenry through various information technology available. Source:punch