title: 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.
  
  
  METHODS
  Prospective cohort study.
  
  
  METHODS
  Fertility clinic in a hospital setting.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 245 women contributing 356 IVF cycles.
  
  
  METHODS
  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.
  
  
  METHODS
  Total and mature oocyte counts, proportion of high-quality embryos, fertilization rates, and rates of implantation, clinical pregnancy, and live births.
  
  
  RESULTS
  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.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Urinary paraben concentrations were not associated with IVF outcomes among women undergoing infertility treatments.
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Health, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts. Electronic address: lminguez@hsph.harvard.edu.
authors.forename: Lidia
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Mínguez-Alarcón
authors.affiliation: Department of Nutrition, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts.
authors.forename: Yu-Han
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Chiu
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Health, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts.
authors.forename: Carmen
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Messerlian
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts; Department of Biostatistics, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts.
authors.forename: Paige L
authors.initials: PL
authors.lastname: Williams
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts.
authors.forename: Mary E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Sabatini
authors.affiliation: Vincent Obstetrics and Gynecology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts.
authors.forename: Thomas L
authors.initials: TL
authors.lastname: Toth
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Health, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts.
authors.forename: Jennifer B
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Ford
authors.affiliation: National Center for Environmental Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia.
authors.forename: Antonia M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Calafat
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Health, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts; Department of Epidemiology, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts; Vincent Obstetrics and Gynecology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts.
authors.forename: Russ
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Hauser
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000652:urine; D001900:Boston; D010064:Embryo Implantation; D004624:Embryo Transfer; D005260:Female; D005298:Fertility; D005307:Fertilization in Vitro / Q000009:adverse effects; D006769:Hospitals, General; D006801:Humans; D007246:Infertility / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000628:therapy* / Q000652:urine*; D050498:Live Birth; D010226:Parabens / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000378:metabolism*; D011247:Pregnancy; D018873:Pregnancy Rate; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D016482:Urinalysis
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D010226:Parabens
keywords: Epidemiology; IVF outcomes; paraben; reproductive health