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SYSTEMATIC REVIEW article

Front. Public Health
Sec. Children and Health
Volume 12 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2024.1425876
This article is part of the Research Topic Early Maternal and Child Health Management and the Impact of Living Environment View all 3 articles

Air Pollutants and Ovarian Reserve: A Systematic Review of the Evidence

Provisionally accepted
Roberta Zupo Roberta Zupo 1Fabio Castellana Fabio Castellana 1Tim S. Nawrot Tim S. Nawrot 2,3Luisa Lampignano Luisa Lampignano 4Ilaria Bortone Ilaria Bortone 5Ferdinando Murgia Ferdinando Murgia 6Gianluca Campobasso Gianluca Campobasso 7Agnieszka Gruszecka-Kosowska Agnieszka Gruszecka-Kosowska 8Orazio Valerio Giannico Orazio Valerio Giannico 9Rodolfo Sardone Rodolfo Sardone 10,9*
  • 1 Department of Interdisciplinary Medicine, School of Medicine, University of Bari Aldo Moro, Bari, Italy
  • 2 Centre for Environmental Sciences, University of Hasselt, Diepenbeek, Limburg, Belgium
  • 3 Centre for Environment and Health, Department of Public Health and Primary Care, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
  • 4 ASLBari - Azienda Sanitaria Localedella provincia di Bari (ASL BA), Bari, Italy
  • 5 Department of Translational Biomedicine and Neuroscience, University of Bari Aldo Moro, Bari, Italy
  • 6 Dipartimento di Ostetricia e Ginecologia, Ospedale Generale Regionale F. Miulli, Acquaviva, Italy
  • 7 Ospedale Vito Fazzi, Lecce, Apulia, Italy
  • 8 Department of Environmental Protection, Faculty of Geology, Geophysics and Environmental Protection, AGH University of Science and Technology, Kraków, Lesser Poland, Poland
  • 9 Unit of Statistics and Epidemiology, Local Health Authority of Taranto, Taranto, Italy, Taranto, Italy
  • 10 Department of Eye and Vision Science, Institute of Ageing and Chronic Disease, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, North West England, United Kingdom

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Background: Growing evidence pointed to an association between ambient air pollution and decreased human reproductive potential. This study aimed to systematically review the association between air pollutants and female ovarian reserve. Methods: The literature was searched in six electronic databases through June 2024. Screening of the 136 articles retrieved for inclusion criteria resulted in the selection of 15 human observational studies that evaluated the effect of environmental pollutants on markers of ovarian reserve. The study protocol was registered on PROSPERO (registration code CRD42023474218). Results: The study design of selected studies was found to be cross-sectional (2 of 15), retrospective cohort (10 of 15), prospective cohort (2 of 15), and case-control (1 of 15). The study population was distributed as follows: Asians (53%, 8 studies), Americans (33%, 5 studies), and Europeans (14%, two studies). The main findings showed a higher body of evidence for the environmental pollutants PM2.5, PM10, and NO2, while a low body of evidence for PM1, O3, SO2, and a very low body of evidence for benzene, formaldehyde, and benzo(a)pyrene, yet consistently showing significant inverse association data. The overall methodological quality of the selected studies was rated moderated across the 14 domains of the NIH toolkit. Conclusion: Increased exposure to air pollutants seems to be associated with reduced ovarian reserve with evidence being strongest for pollutants such as PM2.5, PM10, and NO2. More evidence is needed to draw conclusions about causality.

    Keywords: Air Pollutants, Fine Particulate Matter, ovarian reserve, Fertility, Systematic review

    Received: 30 Apr 2024; Accepted: 05 Sep 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Zupo, Castellana, Nawrot, Lampignano, Bortone, Murgia, Campobasso, Gruszecka-Kosowska, Giannico and Sardone. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Rodolfo Sardone, Unit of Statistics and Epidemiology, Local Health Authority of Taranto, Taranto, Italy, Taranto, Italy

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