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Exposure to fracking chemicals may reduce fertility in mice
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Prenatal exposure to chemicals used in fracking may reduce fertility in female mice, according to a press release from the Endocrine Society.
Researchers mixed four combinations of 23 oil and gas chemicals into water and administered it to pregnant mice from day 11 of pregnancy until birth. Female offspring of the mice that drank the chemicals were compared with female offspring in a control group.
“Female mice that were exposed to commonly used fracking chemicals in utero showed signs of reduced fertility, including alterations in the development of the ovarian follicles and pituitary and reproductive hormone concentrations,” Susan C. Nagel, PhD, of the University of Missouri, said in the release.
Mice exposed to the chemical also weighed 10% more on average at 21 days and had increased heart weights and other indicators of abnormal thickening of the heart muscle when compared with the control group.
“These findings build on our previous research, which found exposure to the same chemicals was tied to reduced sperm counts in male mice,” Nagel said. “Our studies suggest adverse developmental and reproductive health outcomes might be expected in humans and animals exposed to chemicals in regions with oil and gas drilling activity.”