In a study published in the Environmental Health Perspective, a research team made up of scientists from across the country have found that environmentally relevant exposure to toxins found in algal blooms posed a risk to women’s reproductive health by heightening the probability of irregular menstrual cycles and infertility related to ovulatory disorders.
Saurabh Chatterjee, PhD, professor of environmental and occupational health at the UC Irvine Program in Public Health and professor of medicine at the UC Irvine School of Medicine, served as a co-author on the publication with corresponding author, Shuo Xia, PhD from Rutgers University.
In marine and freshwater ecosystems, there is a dangerous phenomenon occurring that causes adverse health effects in humans and wildlife animals. Around the globe, large swaths of harmful cyanobacterial (or more commonly referred to as algal) blooms have been cropping up more frequently, primarily owing to the global temperature rise caused by climate change and human behavior like agricultural runoff and urbanization. Humans are exposed to this harmful microcystins via drinking water, food, algal dietary supplements, and recreational activities in polluted waters. These toxins are not routinely monitored due to the absence of federal/state regulatory guidelines, and conventional water treatments cannot completely remove dissolved cyanobacterial toxins.
Our study’s findings stress the need for future research using human-based epidemiological studies and research models to build better interventions and protect our most vulnerable populations.”
– Saurabh Chatterjee, PhD
Using mouse models, researchers replicated long-term, low-dose oral exposure to microcystins, a type of cyanobacteria, that have leucine and arginine (MC-LR) in their makeup to determine its impact on reproductive health. MC-LR has been reported to cause damage on a macro level like to our liver and nervous system but also on a micro level by damaging cells and our metabolic mechanisms.
“The impact of harmful algal blooms on pregnant women remains poorly explored,” says Chatterjee. “Our study’s findings stress the need for future research using human-based epidemiological studies and research models to build better interventions and protect our most vulnerable populations.”
Additional authors include Yingzheng Wang, Pawat Pattarawat, Jiyang Zhang, Eunchong Kim, Delong Zhang, and corresponding author Shuo Xiao, all from Rutgers University; Mingzhu Fang from the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection; Elizabeth Jannaman and Ye Yuan from the Colorado Center for Reproductive Medicine; Ji-Yong Julie Kim from Northwestern University; Geoffery Scott from the University of South Carolina; and Qiang Zhang from Emory University.
