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Background: Animal and epidemiologic studies indicate that air pollution may adversely affect fertility. Epidemiologic studies have been restricted largely to couples undergoing fertility treatment or have retrospectively ascertained time-to-pregnancy among pregnant women.Objectives: We examined the association between residential ambient air pollution and fecundability, the per-cycle probability of conception, in a large preconception cohort of Danish pregnancy planners.Methods: During 2007-2018, we used the Internet to recruit and follow women who were trying to conceive without the use of fertility treatment. Participants completed an online baseline questionnaire eliciting socio-demographic characteristics, lifestyle factors, and medical and reproductive histories and follow-up questionnaires every 8 weeks to ascertain pregnancy status. We determined concentrations of ambient nitrogen oxides (NOx ), nitrogen dioxide (NO2 ), carbon monoxide (CO), ozone (O3 ), particulate matter <2.5 µm (PM2.5 ) and <10 µm (PM10 ), and sulphur dioxide (SO2 ) at each participant's residential address. We calculated average exposure during the year before baseline, during each menstrual cycle over follow-up and during the entire pregnancy attempt time. We used proportional probabilities regression models to estimate fecundability ratios (FRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs), adjusting for potential confounders and co-pollutants. The analysis was restricted to the 10,183 participants who were trying to conceive for <12 cycles at study entry whose addresses could be geocoded.Results: During 12 months of follow-up, 73% of participants conceived. Higher concentrations of PM2.5 and PM10 were associated with small reductions in fecundability. For example, the FRs for a one interquartile range (IQR) increase in PM2.5 (IQR = 3.2 µg/m3 ) and PM10 (IQR = 5.3 µg/m3 ) during each menstrual cycle were 0.93 (95% CI: 0.87, 0.99) and 0.91 (95% CI: 0.84, 0.99), respectively. Other air pollutants were not appreciably associated with fecundability.Conclusions: In this preconception cohort study of Danish women, residential exposures to PM2.5 and PM10 were associated with reduced fecundability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article reports that human influence has warmed planet at an unprecedented rate, and climate change increases the frequency and severity of extreme weather events across the globe. Topics include considered that it seems that hardly a week goes by without news of ever more severe heat waves, wildfires, droughts or severe storms and heavy rainfall with accompanying landslides.

Background: On June 24th, 2022, the United States (US) Supreme Court's ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson, et al. (hereafter, the Dobbs decision) removed federal‐level protections for induced abortion, sparking concerns about reproductive rights and health privacy. Although other pregnancy outcomes (e.g. spontaneous abortion, ectopic pregnancy) are not explicit targets of post‐Dobbs abortion bans, study participants may be worried about how their reproductive health data are used by researchers in the post‐Dobbs era. Objective: To evaluate the extent to which the Dobbs decision influenced participant's engagement in a preconception cohort study. Methods: We leveraged data spanning 20 weeks before and after the Dobbs decision (4 February 2022, to 11 November 2022) from US participants in Pregnancy Study Online (PRESTO), an internet‐based prospective preconception cohort study of couples attempting conception. We categorised participants' state‐level abortion access by residential location: banned or restricted rights; limited access; and protected rights. We evaluated three participant engagement outcomes: follow‐up questionnaire completion; report of a pregnancy; and clicking on the invitation link for a fertility‐tracking app. We fit separate linear regression models and restricted cubic splines to compare outcome prevalence before and after the Dobbs decision by state‐level abortion category. Results: A total of 585 newly enrolled participants and 1247 already‐enrolled participants received 2802 invitations to complete a follow‐up questionnaire. In states with limited or protected abortion rights, we observed little change in participant engagement. In states with banned or restricted abortion rights, however, we observed a 27.12 percentage point reduction (95% confidence interval −43.68, −10.51) in the prevalence of clicking on the invitation link for the fertility‐tracking app comparing the post‐ versus pre‐Dobbs periods. Conclusions: There was some evidence of reduced participant engagement after the Dobbs decision in states with banned or restricted abortion rights, indicating potentially deleterious effects on the conduct of reproductive health studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Little is known about potential health effects of eating organic food in relation to reproduction. Objective: We examined associations between organic food consumption and fecundability. Methods: Data were derived from a preconception cohort study of Danish couples trying to conceive (SnartForældre.dk, SF). Participants completed a baseline questionnaire on socio‐demographics, anthropometrics and lifestyle and a validated food‐frequency questionnaire, which included questions on proportions of organic food consumed within six food groups. Participants were followed up with bimonthly questionnaires for up to 12 months or until pregnancy. Analyses were restricted to 2061 participants attempting pregnancy for ≤6 cycles at enrollment and 1303 with <3 cycles. Fecundability ratios (FRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were estimated by proportional probabilities regression models adjusted for potential confounders including age, lifestyle and socioeconomic factors. Associations were examined for vegetables, fruits, cereals, dairy products, eggs and meat, separately, and for the overall pattern of organic food consumption (organic sum score). Results: The final analytic sample comprised 2069 participants. In the full cohort, organic food consumption was not meaningfully associated with fecundability. Among participants <3 cycles of pregnancy attempt at study entry (n = 1303), the FR was 1.11 (95% CI 0.93, 1.33) for the category 'less than half', for 'more than half' the FR was 1.17 (95% CI 0.99, 1.38) and for 'almost everything' the FR was 1.12 (95% CI 0.97, 1.28). Conclusion: Higher consumption of organic foods was not meaningfully associated with fecundability, although slightly greater fecundability was seen among participants with <3 cycles of pregnancy attempt time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]