Semen quality in relation to biomarkers of pesticide exposure.

Abstract

A study by Nelson and Bunge (1974), noting poor semen quality in fertile men from Iowa City, Iowa, relative to men from New York, concluded, Confirmation of our findings would imply that some unknown factor has caused a decrease in male fertility potential as measured by semen analysis.Although the question of a possible decline in semen quality has been widely studied (Carlsen et al. 1992;Swan et al. 1997), before 2003 no other study included a population drawn from an agrarian environment similar to that of Iowa City to confirm or refute this conjecture. Earlier this year we reported results from the Study for Future Families (SFF), a multicenter study of semen quality in fertile men that included men from mid-Missouri, an area comparable demographically and agriculturally with Iowa City (Swan et al. 2003). Iowa City, Iowa, like Columbia, Missouri, has more than 50% of county acreage in farms, and both are located in counties in which pesticide use is high (U.S. Census Bureau 2001).In SFF we found, as had Nelson and Bunge (1974), reduced sperm concentration and motility in men from a U.S. agrarian area (Columbia, MO) relative to men from U.S. urban centers: Los Angeles, California; Minneapolis, Minnesota; and New York, New York. Unlike earlier studies, tight quality control and standardization of all study methods made it unlikely that the variation in semen quality we observed was attributable to differences in laboratory or recruitment methods. We examined multiple potential confounders, and results were largely unchanged after statistical adjustment for these factors. Therefore, we sought to identify environmental agents associated with these between-center differences in semen quality. We hypothesized that pesticides used widely in mid-Missouri, and rarely in urban areas, might have contributed to the poor semen quality seen in men from midMissouri, and perhaps shed light on the finding of Nelson and Bunge (1974). In this article, we follow common use and apply the term "pesticide" not only to insecticides but also to a variety of other agricultural chemicals, including herbicides, fungicides, and various other pest control substances [U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) 1997].It is well known that exposure to pesticides at occupational levels can adversely affect semen quality. In the late 1970s the nematocide dibromochloropropane affected more than 26,000 plantation workers in 12 countries; 64% had low sperm concentrations and 28% were involuntarily childless (Goldsmith 1997;Slutsky et al. 1999;Thrupp 1991). The chlorinated hydrocarbon pesticide chlordecone (kepone) was withdrawn in 1975 because of oligozoospermia and decreased motility resulting from occupational exposures (Faroon et al. 1995). Ethylene dibromide was an active component of approximately 100 pesticides. Its use was severely restricted in 1984 because of reduced sperm counts and semen volume in exposed workers (Schrader et al. 1988;Whorton 1981). More recently, a small study of herbicide sprayers in Argentina showed decreased ...

Identification of human urinary metabolites of acetochlor in exposed herbicide applicators by high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry

“…Two reports have indicated that ACM is rarely detected in the general US population. Swan et al (2003) detected ACM in only 21% and 8% of urine samples from men in Missouri and Minnesota, respectively, with LODs similar to this study. Further, in CDC's Third National Report on Human Exposure to Environmental Chemicals (CDC, 2005), ACM was detected in fewer than 5% of the total samples analyzed.…”

“…Glutathione-derived mercapturate metabolites of alachlor and metolachlor have been identified as important human urinary metabolites after occupational exposures (Driskell et al, 1996;Driskell and Hill Jr., 1997). By analogy, acetochlor mercapturate (ACM) has been hypothesized to be a human urinary metabolite of acetochlor (Swan et al, 2003;Olsson et al, 2004;Curwin et al, 2005). Human exposure to alachlor has also been estimated by quantifying the hydrolysis product of alachlorrelated metabolites, 2,6-diethylaniline, in urine (Driskell et al, 1996).…”

Atrazine induces complete feminization and chemical castration in male African clawed frogs (Xenopus laevis)

“…Indeed, declining androgens (22,26) and decreased sperm production have been shown in laboratory rodents exposed to atrazine as well (22,26,42), albeit at higher doses. Furthermore, atrazine exposure is highly correlated (P < 0.009) with low sperm count, poor semen quality, and impaired fertility in humans (43).…”

Hazardous effect of Agricultural occupation on male fertility in central India.

“…17,18 The present study provides sufficient evidence concerning that there is a strong relation between exposure of pesticides and male semen quality.All parameters of semen analysis showed significant difference between the exposure more than 5years and exposure less then 5 years.Some studies have shown definate reletionship with exposure of Pesticides including DDT,Organophpsphorus and mixtures of herbicides, fungicides and incsecticides and decline in sperm count, motility, morpholgy. 19,20 In the present study TFSC of the groupII is less as compare to group I.As TFSC grade the overall sperm quality objectively. The careful examination of semen parameters reveals that the TFSC value is an integrative form of three main parameters viz.Total concentration, motility and normal percentage of sperm morphologies.…”