The Study of the Environment and Reproduction is a new project that involves the Child Health and Development Studies (CHDS) and scientists from Kaiser Permanente and Columbia University. The study is sponsored by the National Institutes of Health. The purpose of the study is to learn more about the effects of prenatal exposure to pesticides and men's fertility later in their adult lives. Prenatal exposure to pesticides could occur if a man's mother was exposed to pesticides before or during her pregnancy. Some pesticides are stored for long periods in the tissues of the body and might affect the developing reproductive system of a fetus during pregnancy.

This important study can only be carried out with the participation of men who participated in the Child Health and Development Studies as children. Their mothers joined the study 40 years ago, and samples of their mother's blood were frozen and stored at that time for later studies such as this one. The study will measure levels of pesticides in the stored blood samples.

Research staff located at Kaiser Permanente will soon be contacting eligible men to participate in this study. Please consider joining if you are contacted. You will make an important contribution to scientists' knowledge about pesticides and men's reproductive health.

What does participation involve?

If a man agrees to participate he will be asked to complete a 40 minute interview with a member of the research staff at the Kaiser Division of Research clinic in Oakland. The researchers will then link the information contained in the man's interview, blood, and semen samples with the information from the mother's blood sample during pregnancy to answer the question of whether prenatal exposure affects a man's later reproductive health.

Participants will be compensated for their time.

Will my confidentiality be protected if I participate?

All information provided by participants will be kept completely confidential. The information will not go to a participant's doctor or into his medical record. A participant may refuse to answer any question, and his choice to participate or not will not affect his health coverage in any way.