Abstract:

Background: The Environment and Reproductive Health (EARTH) Study is an ongoing prospective preconception cohort designed to investigate the impact of environmental, nutritional, and lifestyle factors among both women and men on fertility and pregnancy outcomes. Methods: The EARTH Study recruits women 18 to 45 years and men 18 to 55 years seeking fertility evaluation and treatment at the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) Fertility Center, Boston, USA. Women and men are eligible to join either independently or as a couple. Participants are followed from study entry throughout each fertility treatment cycle, once per trimester of pregnancy (for those achieving pregnancy), and up to labor and delivery, or until they discontinue treatment or withdraw from the study. The study collects biological samples, self-reported questionnaire data (including a food frequency questionnaire) and clinically abstracted information. Results: As of June 2017, the study cohort included 799 women and 487 men (447 couples; 40 men joined without female partners). Women were on average 34.7 years old at time of enrolment and predominantly Caucasian (81%), educated (49% have a graduate degree), and nulliparous (83%). Men were on average 36.6 years at baseline and mostly Caucasian (86%) and never-smokers (67%). Conclusions: The EARTH Study is one of the few cohorts designed to examine multiple potentially critical windows of vulnerability, including the paternal and maternal preconception windows and the periconception and prenatal windows in pregnancy. It is also one of the few human studies that has assessed potential interactions between environmental exposures and dietary factors.