Exposure To High Traffic Roadways Linked To Lower IVF Success.

reports new research indicates “the probability of implantation and live birth after in vitro fertilization (IVF) is lower for women who live close to a major roadway, and are therefore exposed to traffic-related air pollution.” Audrey Gaskins, ScD, from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and colleagues “assessed 441 women enrolled in the Environment and Reproductive Health (EARTH) study who underwent a total of 670 IVF cycles from 2004 to 2016” to determine whether “the biologic mechanisms that mediate the ‘effect of air pollution on later pregnancy and birth outcomes – such as increased oxidative stress, systemic inflammation, endothelial dysfunction, and DNA damage – could also affect earlier pregnancy outcomes, such as fertilization, early embryo development, and implantation,’” Gaskins explained at the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM) 2017 Scientific Congress in San Antonio. https://login.medscape.com/login/sso/getlogin?urlCache=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cubWVkc2NhcGUuY29tL3ZpZXdhcnRpY2xlLzg4NzkxMw==&ac=401