Journal of Andrology
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Published-Ahead-of-Print February 19, 2009, DOI:10.2164/jandrol.108.005918

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Use of a Questionnaire to Correlate Self-Reported Occupational Risk Factors and Semen Quality in Clinical Practice

Gwendoline de Fleurian , Jeanne Perrin *, René Ecochard , Emmanuelle Dantony , André Lanteaume , Vincent Achard , Jean-Marie Grillo , Marie-Roberte Guichaoua , Alain Botta , and Irène Sari-Minodier

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: jeanne.perrin{at}ap-hm.fr.

In industrial countries, evidences suggest that semen quality has been steadily decreasing over the five past decades. We employed a short questionnaire to examine the association between self-reported physical or chemical occupational exposures and semen quality. The study included 402 men consulting for couple infertility (314 with oligospermia, asthenospermia or teratospermia and 88 with normal semen; WHO criteria). Exposure effects on global sperm quality and total sperm count, sperm motility, and sperm morphology were investigated. We found significant associations between semen impairment and occupational risk factors such as exposure to heavy metals (adjusted Odds Ratio=5.4; 95% Confidence Interval=1.6-18.1), solvents (OR=2.5; 95% CI=1.4-4.4), fumes (OR=1.9; 95% CI=1.1-3.4), and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (OR=1.9; 95% CI=1.1-3.5). Exposure to pesticides or cement was nearly significant (OR=3.6; 95% CI=0.8-15.8, and OR=2.5; 95% CI=0.95-6.5, respectively). Physical risk factors were associated with some sperm anomalies, such as mechanical vibrations with oligospermia and teratospermia as well as excess heat and extended sitting periods with impaired motility. Exposure to ionizing radiation and electromagnetic fields was not associated with semen impairment; these results, however, may be skewed as very few subjects reported such exposure. Despite the small dataset, self-reported exposures were correlated with semen impairment. This approach may be recommended in routine clinical practice to seek relationships between occupational exposures to reprotoxic agents and impaired semen parameters. This knowledge would allow preventive measures in the workplace to be established and could be complemented by the use of biomarkers to better characterize exposure to chemical substances and their spermiotoxic effects.


Key words: Infertility • Semen Analysis • Spermatogenesis • occupational exposure • questionnaire • self-reported exposures




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Do Occupational Exposures Affect Semen Quality?
Journal Watch (General), September 29, 2009; 2009(929): 2 - 2.
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