Prenatal phthalate exposure and reproductive function in young men

The epidemiologic evidence linking prenatal and postnatal exposure to endocrine disrupting chemicals with male reproductive disorders: a systematic review and meta-analysis

“…There was no indication that PCBs, the DDT metabolite DDE or PFOS were associated with reduced sperm count, but high level PFOA exposure was significantly associated with reduced sperm concentration (Vested et al ., 2013, 2014). Finally, a Swedish cross-sectional study using biobanked maternal serum samples did not show associations between sperm count and a range of phthalate metabolites (Axelsson et al ., 2015). …”

“…We identified 33 papers that were based upon 28 independent studies reported 89 associations between measured levels of endocrine disrupting chemicals and one or more of the outcomes: cryptorchidism (Hosie et al ., 2000; Longnecker et al ., 2002; Pierik et al ., 2004, 2007; Bhatia et al ., 2005; Damgaard et al ., 2006; Main et al ., 2007; Brucker-Davis et al ., 2008; McGlynn et al ., 2009a; Fenichel et al ., 2012; Chevalier et al ., 2015; Jensen et al ., 2015; Komarowska et al ., 2015; Small et al ., 2009; Trabert et al ., 2012; Vesterholm et al ., 2014; Toft et al ., 2016; Virtanen et al ., 2012); hypospadias (Longnecker et al ., 2002; Bhatia et al ., 2005; Small et al ., 2009; McGlynn et al ., 2009a; Carmichael et al ., 2010; Giordano et al ., 2010; Choi et al ., 2012; Jensen et al ., 2015; Rignell-Hydbom et al ., 2012; Trabert et al ., 2012; Toft et al ., 2016); testicular cancer (Hardell et al ., 2003, 2004; Biggs et al ., 2008; Cohn et al ., 2010; Giannandrea et al ., 2011; McGlynn et al ., 2008; 2009b; Purdue et al ., 2009); and sperm count (Mocarelli et al ., 2011; Axelsson et al ., 2015; Vested et al ., 2013, 2014). …”

“…The systematic literature search seems to have been efficient since no additional papers fulfilling the eligibility criteria were identified from hand searches of reference lists or reviews. The majority of the studies were case-referent studies, many nested within large well-defined cohorts, while two studies of sperm count were cohort studies (Vested et al ., 2013, 2014) and two were cross-sectional studies (Mocarelli et al ., 2011; Axelsson et al ., 2015). The case-referent studies included a total of 2446 cases of which 671 cases were cryptorchidism, 570 cases were hypospadias and 1205 cases were testicular cancer.…”

“…Although the effects of endocrine disrupting chemicals on male fertility has been the focus of heated debate (Bonde et al ., 2011), only three human studies have to date linked prenatal and postnatal exposure to xenobiotics with sperm count in adults (Mocarelli et al ., 2011; Axelsson et al ., 2015; Vested et al ., 2013). This is probably explained by the difficult and costly logistics of population-based semen studies and the need for maternal biospecimens or cord blood stored decades before follow-up takes place.…”

“…(2013)DenmarkPregnancy cohort, male offspringFollow-up169Maternal serumPFOSPFOA but not PFOS was associated with lower adjusted sperm concentration (p-trend = 0.01)110PFOAVested et al . (2014)DenmarkPregnancy cohort, male offspringFollow-up173Maternal serumPCB (six congeners)Sum PCB and p,p′-DDE was not associated with sperm count110DDEAxelsson et al . (2015)SwedenMainly young men presenting for military health board but also a few from the general population (through announcements in schools)Follow-up112Maternal serumThree DEHP metabolites Three DiNP metabolitesNone of the six phthalate metabolites were associated with Sperm count71

a CR: completeness of reporting on a scale from 0 (low completeness) to 11 (high completeness).

b Bias and confounding: 1 = higher risk of bias, 0 = lower risk of bias.

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