POLLUTION AND ITS IMPACT ON HUMAN FERTILITY:EXPLAINED

Copyright infringement not intended

Picture Courtesy: Financial Express

Context:

Delhi slipped back into the ‘very poor’ air quality category this week, with the Air Quality Early Warning System reporting an AQI of 316. While public concern usually centres around breathlessness, burning eyes, or coughing, specialists say the invisible danger lies deeper—polluted air may be degrading reproductive health.

How Pollution affects fertility?

Hormonal Imbalance: Many pollutants especially microplastics, pesticides, industrial chemicals, heavy metals, and particulate matter, act as endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs).
They interfere with hormones like estrogen, progesterone, testosterone, and thyroid hormones, leading to menstrual irregularities and reduced sperm production.

Cell Damage: Pollutants generate free radicals that damage reproductive organs and genetic material. Effects include DNA fragmentation in sperm, poor egg quality and miscarriage risk.

Pollution’s impact on women’s reproductive health: Endocrine-disrupting chemicals such as BPA, phthalates and pesticides mimic hormones and interfere with ovulation, as seen in the “cancer belt” of Punjab where high pesticide exposure correlates with infertility, miscarriages and congenital anomalies.
Research by the Harvard School of Public Health also found that women exposed to high levels of PM2.5 and plastic-based compounds during pregnancy faced higher miscarriage risk and impaired ovarian function.

Contaminated Water and Soil as Hidden Threats: Groundwater laden with fluoride in districts such as Nalgonda in Telangana has been associated with delayed puberty, menstrual disturbances and poor sperm formation, highlighting pollution’s reach beyond air quality.
Likewise, arsenic contamination in parts of West Bengal has been linked to hormonal imbalances, poor pregnancy outcomes and developmental disorders, strengthening the argument that pollution affects fertility through multiple pathways.

Types of pollution that have reproductive effects:

Air Pollution: Air pollution containing PM2.5, ozone, nitrogen dioxide and heavy metals enters the bloodstream, generates oxidative stress and damages sperm DNA, leading to reduced count, poor motility and abnormal morphology.
In cities with chronic smog, this exposure is often equated to smoking multiple cigarettes a day, signalling how everyday air breathing silently erodes reproductive health.

Water Pollution: Contaminated water carrying nitrates, fluoride, arsenic, industrial effluents and pharmaceutical residues interferes with hormonal regulation, disturbs sperm production cycles and compromises fetal development, making polluted water a hidden yet potent reproductive hazard in many regions.

Plastic Pollution: Plastic waste releases endocrine-disrupting compounds such as Bisphenol-A and phthalates which mimic estrogen and suppress testosterone, thereby impairing sperm formation, disrupting ovulation and weakening pregnancy maintenance mechanisms.

Soil and Food Contamination: Pesticides and insecticides absorbed into soil migrate through food chains and accumulate in body fat, altering hormonal balance and contributing to conditions such as male infertility, menstrual disorders and even early menopause.

Indian and global best practices to protect fertility from pollution:

Global initiatives:

• Countries such as China and the European Union have successfully reduced particulate pollution by enforcing stricter industrial emission norms, shifting to cleaner fuel, expanding green public transport, and investing in real-time pollution monitoring.
• Nations like France and Sweden have banned or restricted chemicals such as BPA and phthalates in food packaging, baby products and cosmetics.
• Cities in Scandinavia and Canada use green zoning, extensive cycling networks, congestion charges and urban tree-planting to lower pollution exposure.
• Israel, Denmark and South Korea run national fertility registries that track semen quality, birth outcomes, environmental exposure and IVF success rates.

Indian initiatives:

Air Quality Management: India has introduced measures such as the National Clean Air Programme, graded response action plans in cities like Delhi, and cleaner fuel initiatives like BS-VI standards,

Plastic Restrictions: India’s nationwide ban on single-use plastics and strict norms under environmental protection laws reflect efforts to limit endocrine-disrupting plastic toxins

Vehicular Emission Reductions: Schemes such as the Ujjwala LPG programme and vehicular scrappage initiatives reduce indoor and outdoor emissions, especially benefitting women

Urban Green Missions: Large-scale renewable energy expansion, biofuel policies, and urban greening initiatives—from Smart Cities Mission to AMRUT parks

Conclusion:

Pollution is no longer just an environmental or respiratory threat—it is silently damaging human fertility. By disrupting hormones, weakening sperm quality, impairing ovulation, and harming fetal development, polluted air, water, soil, and chemicals are eroding reproductive potential across generations. The evidence is clear: declining fertility is a warning signal of a toxic environment, making pollution control not only an ecological priority but a public health and demographic necessity.

Source: Financial Express