Pesticides exposure decreased male fertility: Epidemiologic study

A new study published in Andrology shows that DNA fragmentation, semen quality, and chromosome aneuploidy, epidemiological data support a link between pesticide exposure and decreased male fertility in exposed individuals and workers.

Pesticides are one of the most researched environmental hazards. The environment has a significant impact on male infertility, varying the occurrence in different groups. The latter has never stopped being used, endangering both employees and public safety. Carlo Giulioni and his team conducted this analysis in order to summarize the findings of studies examining the relationship between pesticides and male fertility.

A thorough literature search was conducted for this study using MEDLINE via Scopus, PubMed, and Web of Science. Only human research was taken into account. In order to assess the impact of pesticides on men, semen parameters and DNA integrity were taken into account.

The key findings of this study were as follows:

1. There were 64 research studies in total that looked at their effects on semen parameters (51 studies), chromatin and DNA integrity (25 studies), and other factors.

2. Sperm motility, total sperm count, and sperm morphology were the most frequently affected variables, but a decrease in ejaculate volume and concentration happened in a few instances.

3. Organochlorines and organophosphates were linked to a noticeable decline in semen quality.

4. In addition, exposure to pesticides, particularly pyrethroids, was typically linked to greater DNA fragmentation indices and chromosome aneuploidies.

In conclusion, the effects of exposure to pesticides on human semen parameters were summarized in the current study, and it was discovered that there was a negative influence on sperm total count, motility, and normal morphology as well as damage to DNA integrity. Rather than dose, these effects appear to be primarily connected with exposure period. To corroborate these results and to bolster the evidence for causation, future prospective studies with the right approach to adjust for systematic uncertainty are necessary because present knowledge almost exclusively relies on cross-sectional evaluations.

Reference: 

Giulioni, C., Maurizi, V., Castellani, D., Scarcella, S., Skrami, E., Balercia, G., & Galosi, A. B. (2022). The environmental and occupational influence of pesticides on male fertility: A systematic review of human studies. In Andrology. Wiley. https://doi.org/10.1111/andr.13228