Does Plastic Really Cause Infertility?

How often do you wrap leftovers in foil or plastic film? And your baby’s bottle? Find out more about the harmful effect of these substances.

Bisphenol A (BPA)

In the USA and elsewhere in the world, a research project is underway to determine the effect of BPA on fertility, if any. The subject is the effect on the ability of embryos to attach to the uterus. Although the US Food and Drug Administration rejected the data on the effect of BPA on people’s health, many researchers have found otherwise. Unfortunately, the research is done on a small population of people and animals and thus they don’t meet the criteria set by US FDA. The problem is difficult because BPA is used for most types of plastic foil in which you wrap food. Thus, a direct contact with the body is established and it occurs on a daily basis. BPA is also found in plastic of which baby bottles are made, which is particularly dangerous if a harmful effect is determined.

What are the results of existing research?

The team led by Julie Lamb, M.D. of the University of California in San Francisco, measured the concentrations of BPA in people who were candidates for artificial insemination. 93% of women and 81% of men had higher concentrations of BPA. Richard J. Paulson, M.D., the chief of the Division of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility at the University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine, made the following comments on the findings of the study: “Most women had higher BPA concentrations, which means that women who are candidates for artificial insemination definitely have BPA. But the significance of this information is still uncertain.”

Shelley Ehrlich, M.D. of Harvard School of Public Health, and her team examined the effect of BPA on sperm. The study showed that there’s no connection between the quality of sperm and the concentrations of BPA in the body. However, the study included only 71 men, which means that the findings didn’t reach statistical significance. Paulson made the following comments on the results: “This is a very small study with just preliminary findings, so we should interpret the results with caution.”

"Short exposure to BPA can cause infertility"

Lusine Aghajanova, M.D., Ph.D., also from the University of California San Francisco, took another approach in her study. She examined the endometrial stromal cells of average Americans if exposed to normal environmental concentrations of BPA. She commented on the course of the study: “We noticed that short exposure of the cells to BPA causes disrupted cell proliferation and maturation. If the endometrium does not develop normally, it may not coordinate with embryo development and implantation will not occur.” Thus, embryo can’t be attached to the wall of the uterus and pregnancy isn’t possible.
Testing on animals showed that BPA can mimic estrogen, the female sex hormone. Many experts are worried that BPA causes an abnormal development of the fetus and complications in delivery. BPA is also associated with other diseases, including cancer, diabetes and obesity. That’s right, obesity is considered a disease in the USA.

You can find more information and advice on infertility in the Encyclopedia of Sexuality.