The mammalian ovary: Concerns about evaluation of prenatal environmental exposures

The number and volume of processed natural or synthetic chemical toxicants introduced on the market has soared over the past decades. Possible human environmental exposures to potentially adverse compounds have, therefore, increased, as has awareness regarding their potential hazard for reproduction. Concomitantly, numbers of couples seeking assisted reproduction has climbed sharply. Toxicant risk assessment represents a concern at both individual and population and socio- economic levels. Here, we review current methods used to assess impacts of prenatal environmental exposures on mammalian ovary development and female reproductive function. We highlight technical challenges that need to be overcome in a regulatory context and the necessity for the development of guidelines and policies to better characterise potentially deleterious substances for the female reproductive function.