Exposure to persistent organic pollutants and severity of endometriosis in the ComPaRe-Endometriosis cohort – POPENDO

Endometriosis is a chronic hormone-dependent disease affecting 10% of women. Endocrine-disruptors have been suspected to play a role in endometriosis etiology, and several persistent organic pollutants (POPs) have been associated with endometriosis risk. However, despite experimental evidence of an impact of POPs on endometriosis lesion growth, no previous study has formally tested the hypothesis of an influence of POPs on the severity of endometriosis. POPENDO aims to examine associations between internal exposure levels of 4 families of POPs (dioxins, polychlorinated biphenyls, organochlorine pesticides, perfluorinated alkylated substances, totaling 81 substances) and endometriosis severity in a sample of 650 women participating in ComPaRe-Endometriosis, a prospective e-cohort of over 12,000 endometriosis patients. The findings will provide novel information on the impact of POP exposure on endometriosis that will contribute to inform prevention and reduce the impact of the disease.