COMMENTARY
Women's health
Occupational exposure to glycol ethers and ovarian function
Inserm U625, University of Rennes, Rennes, France
Correspondence to:
Correspondence to:
Dr S Cordier
Inserm U625, University of Rennes, Rennes, France; sylvaine.cordier@rennes.inserm.fr
Commentary on the paper by Hsieh et al (see page 510)
Keywords: ethylene glycol ethers; menstrual cycle; semiconductor manufacturing
| The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below. |
The simultaneously hydrophilic and lipophilic properties of glycol ethers account for their use as solvents in a wide range of industrial and domestic products, including paints, varnishes, cleaning agents, and cosmetics. These dozens of compounds are grouped into two main classes: ethylene glycol ethers (EGEs) and propylene glycol ethers (PGEs). Because animal experiments show several EGEs to have high potential for toxicity, especially for testicular function, there has been a shift since 1990 in European countries towards replacing short chain EGEs with PGEs. In various sectors, however, including the semiconductor industry, several short chain EGEs are still in use.1
Short chain EGEs, more specifically, ethylene glycol methyl ether (EGME), ethylene glycol ethyl ether (EGEE), and their acetates, were first shown to affect testicular function, and more precisely, spermatocytes in the pachytene stage, dose dependently in all species tested, resulting in reduced fertility.2 Several other EGEs have also shown
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Occup. Environ. Med. 2005 62: 510-516.[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
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