Environmental and Occupational Factors on Implantation Failure

Abstract

It has been shown that reproductive activity is responsive to changes in the physical, psychosocial, and chemical environments. Occupational exposure has been identified to a wide range of putative hazards and adverse reproductive outcomes, or fertility. Such risks include the physical environment such as VDT and noise, as well as psychosocial stress and chemical agents. Some of these may have a direct or indirect effect on IVF outcomes. Psychosocial factors such as inadequate coping mechanisms, anxiety and/or depression are related to a lower incidence of IVF pregnancy. In this chapter the authors focus on the difficulties involved in linking exposure to putative hazardous substances to adverse reproductive outcomes in environmental and occupational settings, particularly the effectiveness of IVF procedures.