Welcome to PRHE

Our mission is to create a healthier environment for human reproduction and development through advancing scientific inquiry, clinical care and health policies that prevent exposures to harmful chemicals in our homes, workplaces, and communities.

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Turning our science into action

Research

PRHE conducts groundbreaking, multi-disciplinary research that answers important questions of how chemicals and contaminants in our homes and environment affect fertility, pregnancy, and fetal and child development.

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Policy

PRHE identifies and communicates how science should be used in policymaking to protect health and is a leading scientific voice on EPA’s problematic implementation of the updated Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA).

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Education and Communications

PRHE is a leader in connecting the environment to pregnancy, prenatal health, and women’s health and works with major medical organizations to issue guidance on reducing chemical use and preventing harmful exposures.

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Latest News

Ocean diver among trash floating in water

The oceans may contain much, much more plastic than previously thought

GristJuly 11, 2025News

In the oceans, the most widespread type of plastic pollution may be the kind you can’t see. A new study published Wednesday in the journal Nature estimates that the North Atlantic Ocean alone contains 27 million metric tons of nanoplastic — plastic particles 100 times smaller than the width of a human hair. That figure is 10 times higher than previous estimates of plastic pollution of all sizes across all the world’s oceans, according to the study’s authors.

Health experts make 8 recommendations for the UN Plastics Treaty

The University of Sydney News & OpinionJuly 10, 2025News

A leading expert in the health impacts of plastic pollution and microplastics is calling on the UN to end the use of toxic chemicals in all plastics, cap and reduce plastic production and argues against a treaty focused on waste management and recycling, as part of an international Plastics Treaty.

Person's hands crossed over pregnant belly

Clothing dye raises diabetes risk in pregnant women

The New LedeJune 29, 2025News

Pregnant women exposed to a harmful clothing dye have a higher risk for gestational diabetes when they are carrying a male fetus, according to a new study. Gestational diabetes, which afflicts roughly 8% of pregnant women in the US each year, increases the odds of a baby being born too large and suffering from low blood sugar, obesity and diabetes.

Do corporations actually have more control over your health than you?

New ScientistJune 02, 2025News

The aisles seem to go on forever as you push your shopping trolley towards the cereal section. You arrive, only to be met with an anxiety-inducing dilemma: do you buy the granola with low sugar or the one that is fortified with protein and vitamins? Or maybe the one with those delicious little chocolate chunks?

Health advocates applaud MAHA report for calling out chemical harms, but say it falls short

The New LedeMay 22, 2025News

Exposures to pesticides and other chemicals, ultra-processed foods and over-prescription of medications are among the factors contributing to an epidemic of chronic disease in America’s children, according to a government report issued Thursday by the Trump administration’s controversial “Make America Healthy Again” (MAHA) Commission.

Kennedy and Trump Paint Bleak Picture of Chronic Disease in U.S. Children

The New York TimesMay 22, 2025News

President Trump and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the health secretary, set forth their vision on Thursday for how to “make America healthy again” with the release of an expansive report on a crisis of chronic disease in children.

Black and Latina Women Are Heavy Users of Beauty Products Linked to Cancer

Everyday HeatlhMay 09, 2025News

More than half of Black and Latina women may regularly use beauty products that contain a chemical heavily implicated in uterine cancer, a small study suggests. For the new survey, researchers asked 70 Black and Latina women in Los Angeles to log each use of all their personal-care products for one week and take pictures of the labels to document the ingredients.

A New Study Raises Alarms About Plastics and Heart Disease. Here’s What to Know.

The New York TimesApril 29, 2025News

The news made for an alarming headline this week: Research showed that common chemicals in plastics were associated with 350,000 heart disease deaths across the world in 2018.

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