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

Poll: Voters Agree on Need for More Protections from Chemicals

October 11, 2022Press Release

American voters overwhelmingly say they want government and industry to ensure the products they buy are free of harmful chemicals, and they are willing to pay more for it, according to a national online survey commissioned by the Program on Reproductive Health and the Environment (PRHE) at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF).

UCSF Fresno and UCSF School of Medicine Partner in Large OB/GYN Study Investigating How Chemical Exposures and Health Inequities Increase Cancer Risk

August 10, 2022News

UCSF Fresno is working in partnership with investigators at the UCSF School of Medicine in San Francisco, Community Regional Medical Center (CRMC) in Fresno, and UC Berkeley on a large OB/GYN observational cohort study to enhance understanding of how multiple exposures to environmental chemicals and pollutants affect pregnant women and their offspring.

EPA Expects ‘Year-Ish’ Wait For Peer Review Of IRIS Formaldehyde Draft

Inside EPAJuly 13, 2022News

A top EPA official says the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) will take “a year-ish” to complete its peer review report on the draft Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS) assessment of formaldehyde, further delaying release of a final assessment and narrowing the window even more for including it in a TSCA evaluation of the chemical. Speaking at a July 13 session of the Toxicology Forum’s summer meeting in Arlington, VA, EPA Office of Research and Development (ORD)’s Chemical and Pollutant...

PRHE Echoes Industry Attack On IRIS Handling Of NAS Formaldehyde Advice

Inside EPAJuly 07, 2022News

An influential academic program is criticizing key aspects of EPA’s new draft risk assessment of formaldehyde, echoing industry claims that the agency has not fully engaged with the National Academy of Sciences’ (NAS) past recommendations and unduly limited public input, but also environmentalists’ argument that the new review understates leukemia risks. In recently released comments on the draft Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS) formaldehyde assessment, scientists associated with the University of California-San Francisco’s Program on Reproductive Health and the Environment...

Person drinking from plastic water bottle

Decades of research document the detrimental health effects of BPA – an expert on environmental pollution and maternal health explains what it all means

The ConversationJune 17, 2022News

Whether or not you’ve heard of the chemical bisphenol A, better known as BPA, studies show that it’s almost certainly in your body. BPA is used in the manufacturing of products like plastic water bottles, baby bottles, toys and food packaging, including in the lining of cans.

Chemicals, Hazardous & Toxic Substances – Increasing Effects of Toxins on our Health & Environment

Healthy Living Healthy Planet RadioJune 16, 2022News

Episode 128: Toxic substances/pollutants are materials contaminating the environment that cause death, disease and/or birth defects in the organisms that ingest or absorb them. The quantities and length of exposure necessary to cause these effects can vary widely.

Detoxing: Can You Buy Your Way to Better Health?

UCSF MagazineJune 15, 2022News

Companies claim there’s bad stuff in our homes and bodies, and we should pay to purge it. What’s worth worrying over?

'Polluted' babies, millions dead: Scientists sound alarm on global pollution

USA TodayMay 18, 2022News

New research finds widespread chemical exposure in the modern world. A recent U.S. study of 171 pregnant women found more than 9-in-10 had potentially harmful chemicals in their bodies. While exact health effects are unknown, researchers worry such exposures could be harmful and driving up rates of human disease and developmental disorders. Meanwhile, another report found air and water pollution now causes 1-in-6 deaths worldwide. Experts say it's a crisis akin to climate change and needs new global solutions.

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