Association between peri-conceptional bisphenol A exposure in women and men and time to pregnancy-The HOPE study

Bisphenol A (BPA) is a non-persistent endocrine-disrupting chemical with nearly ubiquitous, involuntary exposure. Previous studies have shown that BPA causes reproductive dysfunction in animal models, but there are limited data regarding the effects of BPA exposure on time to pregnancy (TTP) in humans.

To evaluate whether peri-conceptional BPA exposure of women and men is associated with couples' TTP.

A total of 164 heterosexual couples (164 women; 163 men) who have available BPA information as well as time to pregnancy from the Home Observation of Peri-conceptional Exposures (HOPE) Study were included and were followed up to 12 months. Women collected first-morning urine samples starting at the beginning of the fertile window and continued until the onset of menses or 18 days after the estimated day of ovulation (EDO+18 days). The time to pregnancy (TTP) after the enrolment was self-reported and used for the analysis. Discrete-time Cox proportional hazards models were performed to generate fecundability odds ratio (FOR) between BPA and TTP after adjusting for education and age, accounting for right censoring and prior number of cycles trying to conceive.

Among 164 couples, 125 couples became pregnant during the study. There was no association between TTP and peri-conceptional BPA exposure for both men (FOR 1.02, 95% CI 0.72, 1.47) and women (FOR 1.07, 95% CI 0.75, 1.53) after adjusting for education and age.

No association was found between peri-conceptional BPA exposure and fecundability in this preconception cohort of relatively young, healthy pregnancy planners.