The President of the Academy of Medicine Specialties of Nigeria, Professor Oladapo Ashiru, has said daily activities such as using a lipstick, driving barefooted and the use of insecticides can cause infertility.
Ashiru said this while giving a lecture at the inauguration and induction of fellows of the Academy held in Lagos.
He added that bad eating habits, stress, consuming stockfish and fish with a large presence of mercury in them, are embryo-toxic and could be a major cause of infertility.
“Some women do not drive with their shoes because they find it easy driving barefooted. Many patients experience miscarriages after going through IVF because the upper lining of those pedals have antimony which has been proven to be embryo-toxic. Not until we remove this antimony from them, they can’t be pregnant or keep a pregnancy.
Same goes for mercury which is present in large fish and stockfish; fumigation, oil spillages, the use of lipstick and pesticides are also injurious to the health.
Fumigation and pesticides can affect a woman who is carrying a baby; it will affect the baby and the child to be born. That is, toxins from pesticides affect three generations.
Women use a lot of lipstick, and unknown to them, they carry a lot of toxins especially if they are cheaply made. Oil spills are also toxins to the sperm and eggs, it causes miscarriage.”he said.
Pesticides cause infertility. Reproductive effects that have been associated with pesticide exposure in women are decreased fertility, spontaneous abortions, stillbirth, premature birth, low birth weight, developmental abnormalities, ovarian disorders, and disruption of the hormonal function.
Exposure of men or women to certain pesticides at sufficient doses may increase the risk for sperm abnormalities, decreased fertility, a deficit of male children, spontaneous abortion, birth defects or fetal growth retardation.
The worst fertility disrupters are organochlorine compounds (chlorinated pesticides, polychlorinated biphenyls, and dioxins), bisphenol A (BPA), and organophosphate pesticides and herbicides. However, many other chemicals, metals, and air pollutants seriously damage fertility. These chemicals can make you infertile.
The mixture of chemicals found in beauty products could harm women’s fertility or even cause breast cancer, a 2018 study has found.
Researchers at George Mason University, in Virginia, USA, discovered links between chemicals widely used in cosmetic and personal care products, and changes in reproductive hormones.