The CYCLE Study

CHARTING FERTILITY AND CHEMICAL EXPOSURES

STUDY GOALS

To harness the science of cycle tracking, along with environmental exposure assessment, to begin to fill the gap in research understanding how environmental contaminants affect female fertility.

PARTICIPATE IN THE STUDY

ABOUT THE STUDY

Eligibility Requirements

Women aged 18-35
Have cycles ranging from 21-35 days long
Currently using an evidence-based natural family planning (NFP) / fertility awareness based method (FABM) for cycle tracking (including, but not limited, to Billings, ChartNEO, Creighton, FEMM, Marquette, NaturalCycles, or Sympto-Thermal)
Are not currently using hormonal birth control
Have not been pregnant or nursing within the last 6 months.

Study Team

Principal Investigator (PI): Dr. Kayla Iuliano, MHS1

Co-PI: Dr. Megan Romano, MPH1

Lead Laboratory Scientist: Dr. Britt Goods2

Graduate Student Assistant: Olivia Palmer2

1 Department of Epidemiology, Dartmouth College

2 Department of Engineering, Dartmouth College

Participant Compensation and Information

Participants who complete all study requirements (filling out surveys, providing urine samples, and shipping sampling kit to the laboratory) will receive $50 gift card as compensation for their time.

Participants will also receive a copy of their individual results.

Please note three important items:

1) Your participation is entirely voluntary and confidential. Your urine sample will be "de-identified," and will not be associated with your name, address, or any other identifiable information during storage or analysis. The study team will have a key, kept in a locked file, that will allow us to link the de-identified sample results with the participant who supplied them. Your name will not be included in any report or paper published about study findings.

2) We will not be able to draw conclusions about how your specific exposures may have affected your specific cycle charts. This study will add to the published literature about how such exposures may impact the female cycle. When enough evidence from enough studies has been collected, the scientific community may be able to draw larger conclusions about trends in exposure / cycle outcomes.

3) Analysis of the urine samples will occur once all samples have been collected - likely in the last months of 2026.

Recruitment and sample collection will take place during the first half of 2026. We estimate you will receive a copy of your results in early 2027.

PARTICIPATION PROCESS

Step 01

Fill out online surveys

Fill out an initial 8-question eligibility survey, followed by a longer survey about your health history. The second survey will take about 15-20 minutes to complete.

Step 02

Upload 3-6 of your most recent cycle charts

One of the final fields in the health survey will prompt you to upload cycle charts, either as separate images, or combined into a single file.

Step 03

Provide email address

The last field of the health survey will ask you for your email. Your email will be used to collect your full name and address information. This information is confidential and will be kept separate from your survey responses.

Step 04

Provide four urine samples

A urine sampling kit, with all necessary materials and instructions, will be sent to participants who successfully complete all of the survey components.

Step 05

Coordinate with study team to return sampling kit

When you complete urine sampling, the study team will work with you to arrange a doorstep pick up for clinical sampling, and two-day shipping to the Dartmouth laboratory.