Endometriosis and environmental factors: A critical review

review OA: closed CC0 ⤵ 22 in-corpus citations
View on OpenAlex View on PubMed View at publisher
AI-generated summary by claude@2026-06, 2026-06-07

This review critically examines the association between environmental factors and endometriosis, synthesizing current evidence on potential links.

One-sentence paraphrase of the abstract; not a substitute for reading it. No clinical advice. How this works

Abstract

This review provides an overview of current knowledge on the relationship between various environmental factors and endometriosis. We successively searched for a given exposure factor combined with the word "endometriosis." The literature was comprehensively analyzed and summarized by quoting only the most important and recent studies on each exposition factor. The data focused primarily on endocrine disruptors, such as dioxins and polychlorinated biphenyls, that appear to have the strongest effect. Intriguing data suggest a link with night work, sun exposure and red meat consumption. For the other risk factors studied, particularly those related to lifestyle (tobacco consumption, alcohol, coffee, soy, physical exercise), the data are not sufficient to draw conclusions. In summary, the epidemiological evidence does not support a strong, scientific link between exposure to environmental factors and endometriosis. The complexity of this disease requires advanced study designs and standardized methodology. Future studies should be carefully designed to address these issues to advance our understanding of the impact of the environment and its consequences on endometriosis.

My notes (saved in your browser only)

Condition tags

endometriosis

MeSH descriptors

Dioxins Dioxins Dioxins Dioxins Dioxins Dioxins Dioxins Dioxins Dioxins Dioxins Dioxins Dioxins Dioxins Dioxins Dioxins Dioxins Endometriosis Endometriosis Endometriosis Endometriosis

Citation neighborhood

Papers in the corpus that this work cites (lower rings, blue) and that cite this one (upper rings, green). Dot size scales with the paper's in-corpus citation count — bigger dot = more influential within the endo/adeno field. Click a dot to open that paper. [ expand to 2 hops ] — adds papers reached through this work's immediate citers/citees. Heavier; up to 60 extra dots.

References (65)

Cited by (22)

Source provenance

europepmc
last seen: 2026-06-21T06:12:49.409960+00:00
openalex
last seen: 2026-06-10T17:14:06.276822+00:00
pubmed
last seen: 2026-06-21T06:12:44.514051+00:00
License: CC0 · commercial use OK