They observed that women who worked with pesticides suspected of being hormonally active had a 60–100% increased odds of experiencing long cycles, missed periods, and intermenstrual bleeding compared with women who had never worked with pesticides. examined the association between pesticide exposure and menstrual cycle characteristics. There are also indications that exposure to particular pesticides may induce ovarian dysfunction. In addition, exposure to chemicals such as benzene and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) can affect the menstrual cycle. Ovarian disorders can be caused by a large variety of factors, such as high levels of physical activity, age, stress, smoking, and caffeine use.
The ovarian cycle has not been as fully explored as the spermatogenesis in men. Another reason may be that fertility in women is more difficult to assess than fertility in men. One reason may be that exposure to pesticides is higher among men, because men usually apply pesticides whereas women get exposed through re-entry activities only. In future research, information on the ways in which pesticides may disrupt the hormonal function as described in this review, can be used to generate specific hypotheses for studies on the effects of pesticides on the ovarian cycle, both in toxicological and epidemiological settings.Īlthough a substantial amount of research has been conducted to associate occupational exposure to pesticides with fertility problems in men, studies among women are scarce. Because pesticides comprise a large number of distinct substances with dissimilar structures and diverse toxicity, it is most likely that several of the above-mentioned mechanisms are involved in the pathophysiological pathways explaining the role of pesticide exposure in ovarian cycle disturbances, ultimately leading to fertility problems and other reproductive effects. In epidemiological studies, exposure to pesticides has been associated with menstrual cycle disturbances, reduced fertility, prolonged time-to-pregnancy, spontaneous abortion, stillbirths, and developmental defects, which may or may not be due to disruption of the female hormonal function. modulation of hormone concentrations, ovarian cycle irregularities, and impaired fertility, are also reviewed. For the latter, potential effects of endocrine disrupting pesticides on the female reproductive system, i.e. These mechanisms are described for effects of pesticide exposure in vitro and on experimental animals in vivo. hormone receptor recognition and binding 5. Disruption can occur in all stages of hormonal regulation: 1. The aim of this review is to give an overview of the various ways in which pesticides may disrupt the hormonal function of the female reproductive system and in particular the ovarian cycle. Previous studies primarily focused on interference with the estrogen and/or androgen receptor, but the hormonal function may be disrupted in many more ways through pesticide exposure.
Some pesticides may interfere with the female hormonal function, which may lead to negative effects on the reproductive system through disruption of the hormonal balance necessary for proper functioning.
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