Pregnancy Outcomes, Overall Health Damaged By Toxic Chemicals – Report
Exposure to toxic chemicals in food, water and air is linked to millions of deaths, and costs billions of dollars every year, according to a medical report published yesterday.
Among the poor health outcomes linked to pesticides, air pollutants, plastics and other chemicals, according to the report from the International Federation of Gynaecology and Obstetrics (FIGO), an organisation representing obstetrical and gynaecological associations from 125 countries, are miscarriage and stillbirths, an increase in cancer, attention problems and hyperactivity.
“Exposure to toxic environmental chemicals during pregnancy and breastfeeding is ubiquitous and is a threat to healthy human reproduction,” the report states.
The piece was written by a team of physicians and scientists from the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada, and the World Health Organisation. It was published in the International Journal of Gynaecology and Obstetrics ahead of a global conference on women’s health issues next week in Vancouver, British Columbia.
“We are drowning our world in untested and unsafe chemicals and the price we are paying in terms of our reproductive health is of serious concern,” Gian Carlo Di Renzo, a physician from FIGO said.