Oral Presentation ESA-SRB-ANZBMS 2021

The Impact of Environmental Toxicants on Female Fertility (#218)

Karla Hutt 1
  1. Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute, Department of Anatomy and Developmental Biology, Monash University, Clayton, Australia

Atrazine is one of the most widely used pesticides in the world, with 34,500 tonnes sprayed each year in the USA, and is frequently detected as a contaminant of ground, surface and drinking water. Each year in Australia, over 3,000 tonnes of atrazine is used in agriculture, on golf courses, and in suburban gardens. It is so pervasive in the environment that Australian water authorities actively monitor its concentration. Accumulating evidence in a number of vertebrate species suggests that atrazine impairs reproductive processes and can have significant effects on the health of subsequent generations. Whilst compelling, these studies have typically used short-term, high-dose exposure paradigms and have predominantly focussed on reproductive and health outcomes in adult males. In striking contrast, the impact of environmentally relevant exposures on ovarian function and female fertility, as well as multigenerational effects, remain poorly characterised. Therefore, using a combination of eutherian (mouse) and marsupial (dunnart) animal models, we are defining how exposure to atrazine, as an example of a well-defined environmental toxicant, affects female fertility and health across multiple generations. These studies will provide vital information about how synthetic toxicants like atrazine, which are highly pervasive and exponentially growing in our environment, affect the fertility and health of women, livestock and native mammals.