Program on Reproductive Health and the Environment (UCSF)

04/21/2026

PRHE is back in action! Our staff gathered this week for a strategic planning retreat — coming together to reflect, align, and map out what's next. Big things are on the horizon. 🔭

04/16/2026

New blog post: A major study of 20,000+ pregnancies found that wildfire smoke exposure — especially multi-day smoke events — is linked to increased risk of preterm birth. Timing during pregnancy matters too.

As wildfire seasons grow longer and more intense across the United States, a major new study reveals important findings about how smoke exposure affects pregnant women and their babies. The growing threat Wildfires are becoming more frequent and severe due to climate change, exposing millions of Ame...

03/17/2026

Dr. Amy Padula spoke at CVAQ's Annual Clean Air Action Day in Sacramento last week. Don't miss her impactful speech on the PRHE blog.

On March 11th, Dr. Amy Padula spoke at the Central Valley Air Quality Coalition‘s 23rd Annual Clean Air Action Day rally at the California State Capitol in Sacramento. The following is her full speech. My name is Dr. Amy Padula and I’m a scientist. I study how the air we breathe impacts our bodi...

03/12/2026

03/09/2026

"When we look more comprehensively, we see that babies are exposed to far more chemicals before birth than we previously realized..."

Babies are exposed to many more 'forever chemicals' before they're born than previously thought, new research suggests, as the potential harms of these substances continue to be investigated.

03/05/2026

You've heard of the pesticides chlorpyrifos and malathion, but have you heard of naled? UCSF Robinson Lab postdoc Lin Li, MD, PhD, explains how naled might affect placental health in our latest blog post. ⬇️

Pregnancy depends on a healthy placenta, but how environmental chemicals affect placental development is still poorly understood. Growing evidence suggests that exposure to common pesticides may increase the risk of pregnancy complications. In our new study examining pregnancy risks from pesticides,...

02/27/2026

Your Friday reminder that there are easy ways to reduce your PFAS exposure, including something you may already be doing: washing your hands before eating.

Environmental scientist Tasha Stoiber reveals some simple ways to limit contact with PFAS.

02/19/2026

A resident of the Golden Triangle of Texas on ethylene oxide exposure: “You live here, you’re gonna get cancer.”

Documents obtained by Hunterbrook show Indorama exposed thousands to carcinogens, violated environmental permits, and concealed toxic leaks from regulators.

02/17/2026

Please join us in welcoming Dr. Amy Padula as PRHE’s new interim director! Discover more about her background and vision for PRHE's future in our newest blog post.

PRHE announced earlier in February that Dr. Amy Padula, a leading PRHE researcher who was named one of 20 Pioneers under 40 in Environmental Health by the Collaborative on Health and the Environment and received a NIEHS Outstanding New Environmental Scientist R01 Award for her work on wildfire smoke...

02/11/2026

Firefighters face elevated cancer risks compared to the general population, yet the health impacts on wildland firefighters remain less understood than those who respond to structural fires. is likely one of the culprits.

As early as 2021, government officials were alerted to the presence of potentially dangerous chemicals known as PFAS in pants used by wildland firefighters, according to emails obtained by ProPublica.

02/09/2026

"Black women already have the highest death rates due to asthma, a condition caused and exacerbated by air pollution. ... Black children are also 8x more likely to die from an asthma attack than White children."

They already face the highest rates of asthma-related mortality in the nation. Dirtier air will make that worse.

02/05/2026

The chemical lobby is trying to weaken America's main chemical safety law. If they succeed, people will be exposed to a lot more toxic chemicals and chronic disease.

Industry-backed lawmakers are pushing changes to safety law that would block lawsuits and weaken protections against toxic exposures.