VIDEO: Common endocrine-disrupting chemicals may impact reproductive aging in women

DENVER — In this Healio video exclusive, Jodi Flaws, PhD, discusses how exposure to a group of chemicals commonly found in plastics, cosmetics and personal care items may be tied to reproductive aging symptoms in women.

“Phthalates, which are present in consumer products, can cause early reproductive aging in both animal models and women,” Flaws, professor in the department of comparative biosciences at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, told Healio. “We have daily exposure to these environmental chemicals through personal care products and building materials, and they are associated with increased risk for aging symptoms, which include loss of ovarian follicles, abnormal hormone levels, increased risk for hot flashes and increased risk for infertility.”

Flaws gave a keynote lecture about environmental endocrine disruptors and female reproductive aging at the ASRM Scientific Congress & Expo.

Watch the video for more.