Articles

by Leigh Ann Woodruff, July 26, 2012

While it's common sense to reduce exposure to environmental toxins when trying to conceive, a new study from the University at Albany's School of Public Health published in Reproductive Toxicology finds that low levels of the toxic metals mercury and cadmium could be significantly harmful to women pregnant via in vitro fertilization (IVF).

"We routinely counsel our patients about toxic exposures during the IVF and pregnancy process," says Julie Tan, M.D., a fertility doctor with the Cleveland Clinic Fertility Center. "However, this preliminary study is interesting because it highlights the possible negative impact of low-level 'background' exposure in an IVF population."

The researchers adjusted for factors such as age, race and smoking, and they found that a slight increase of 1 microgram per liter (ug/L) of blood mercury is associated with a diminished likelihood of 35 percent of achieving a clinical pregnancy with IVF. Cadmium had an even larger impact — a 1 ug/L blood increase of cadmium reduced pregnancy success by 94 percent in clinical pregnancies. Clinical pregnancies are pregnancies that have the presence of a gestational sac detected by ultrasound.