Environmental effects on human reproduction: the basis for new efforts in eastern Europe

Increasing data are becoming available to implicate toxic environmental effects on the reproductive process in animals and man. Political changes in Central and Eastern Europe have provided new opportunities to study reproductive health in an area where environmental effects may be marked. Eastern European health has been affected by environmental transgressions, but other factors, including life style, have played a role in recent changes in life expectancy in the region. While a few programs worldwide are actively pursuing the implications of environmental toxins on reproduction, human data remain sparse. Further research in this field on a global basis is needed. A new center in Copenhagen has begun to pursue such activities, additionally supported by wider World Health Organization (WHO) programs to promote greater communication between eastern and western scientists working in reproductive health.