Pesticides in Foods Can Harm Human Fertility.

Pesticides in Foods Can Harm Human Fertility. Pesticides are widely used chemicals that are impossible for most of us to avoid. Many people are aware that they impact weeds, insects, and fungi – as they are designed to do. But it is widely believed that they are harmless to humans at the low doses that they are exposed to through their diet. 

 However, a study published last year in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) suggests that pesticide residues in food may account for a large proportion of the roughly 100,000 unsuccessful pregnancy attempts in fertility clinics across North America. 

 The women in the study were grouped according to the amount of pesticides they ingested, as indicated by US Department of Agriculture data on average pesticide residue levels found in common foods. The study found that the women in the highest quartile (the 25% of women who consumed the most pesticides) had a 26% reduced chance of having a live birth than women in the lowest quartile, who consumed the least amount of pesticides. 

These findings were statistically significant. In terms of pregnancy loss (getting pregnant and miscarrying), women consuming the least pesticide had a 7% chance of miscarriage, while women consuming the most pesticide had a 34% chance of miscarriage. 

The authors believe that malfunctioning of the placenta is likely to be involved. The JAMA study, conducted by researchers based at the Chan School of Public Health and other institutions in Boston, Massachusetts, followed women receiving fertility treatments at the Massachusetts General Hospital Fertility Center in Boston. At the time that the women enrolled in the fertility clinic, the researchers asked them to recall their dietary consumption of a number of foods – including commonly consumed fruits and vegetables such as apples, pears, spinach, and potatoes. Skip to main content