Urinary paraben concentrations and in vitro fertilization outcomes among women from a fertility clinic

Abstract

Objective: To explore the relationship between urinary paraben concentrations and IVF outcomes among women attending an academic fertility center.

Design: Prospective cohort study.

Setting: Fertility clinic in a hospital setting.

Patient(s): A total of 245 women contributing 356 IVF cycles.

Intervention(s): None. Quantification of urinary concentrations of parabens by isotope-dilution tandem mass spectrometry, and assessment of clinical endpoints of IVF treatments abstracted from electronic medical records at the academic fertility center.

Main outcome measure(s): Total and mature oocyte counts, proportion of high-quality embryos, fertilization rates, and rates of implantation, clinical pregnancy, and live births.

Result(s): The geometric means of the urinary concentrations of methylparaben, propylparaben, and butylparaben in our study population were 133, 24, and 1.5 μg/L, respectively. In models adjusted for age, body mass index, race/ethnicity, smoking status, and primary infertility diagnosis, urinary methylparaben, propylparaben, and butylparaben concentrations were not associated with IVF outcomes, specifically total and mature oocyte counts, proportion of high embryo quality, and fertilization rates. Moreover, no significant associations were found between urinary paraben concentrations and rates of implantation, clinical pregnancy, and live births.

Conclusion(s): Urinary paraben concentrations were not associated with IVF outcomes among women undergoing infertility treatments.

Keywords: Epidemiology; IVF outcomes; paraben; reproductive health.