Department of Environmental Epidemiology, Nofer Institute of Occupational Medicine, Łódź, Poland.
Int J Occup Med Environ Health. 2009;22(4):305-29. doi: 10.2478/v10001-009-0036-1.
An increasing number of reports suggest that chemical and physical agents in the environment, introduced and spread by human activity, may affect male fertility in humans. This article aims at evaluating the impact of environmental exposures (pesticides, phthalates, PCBs, air pollution, trihalomethanes (THMs), mobile phones) on semen quality, by reviewing most recent published literature.
Epidemiological studies focusing on exposure to environmental factors and semen quality for the last ten years were identified by a search of the Pubmed, Medline, Ebsco, Agricola and Toxnet literature bases.
The results from the presented studies suggest that there are strong and rather consistent indications that some pesticides besides DBCP (e.g. DDT/Dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene [DDE], ethylenedibromide, organophosphates) affects sperm count. PCBs are detrimental to sperm motility. In case of air pollution, studies suggest a link between ambient air pollutants and various semen characteristics. Additional research is needed to corroborate this association and to establish the causal agents. Results of few studies on subfertile men demonstrate associations between phthalate levels commonly experienced by the public and impaired sperm quality (impact on sperm concentration, morphology, motility), but the findings have not been corroborated in studies of men from the general population. Mobile phones might adversely affect the quality of semen by decreasing mostly motility but also the sperm counts, viability and morphology. In spite of their consistent results, most of the studies are rather small. Association between exposure to THMs and poor semen quality was not observed.
Epidemiological studies suggest awareness of environmental factors which may affect semen quality. In case both of well proven and disputable reproductive and developmental hazards, it is necessary to prevent parental exposure to the agents associated with those hazards.
越来越多的报告表明，人类活动引入和传播的环境中的化学和物理因素可能会影响人类的生育能力。本文旨在通过回顾最近发表的文献，评估环境暴露（农药、邻苯二甲酸酯、多氯联苯、空气污染、三卤甲烷、手机）对精液质量的影响。
通过搜索 Pubmed、Medline、Ebsco、Agricola 和 Toxnet 文献数据库，确定了过去十年中关注环境因素暴露与精液质量的流行病学研究。
所呈现研究的结果表明，有强烈而一致的迹象表明，除了二溴氯丙烷（如滴滴涕/二氯二苯二氯乙烯[DDE]、溴化乙烯、有机磷）以外，一些农药会影响精子计数。多氯联苯会损害精子活力。就空气污染而言，研究表明环境污染物与各种精液特征之间存在联系。需要进一步研究来证实这种关联并确定致病因素。一些针对生育能力低下男性的研究结果表明，公众普遍接触的邻苯二甲酸盐水平与精子质量受损（对精子浓度、形态、活力的影响）之间存在关联，但在一般人群男性的研究中并未得到证实。手机可能会通过降低精子活力、精子数量、活力和形态来对精液质量产生不利影响。尽管这些研究结果一致，但大多数研究规模较小。未观察到暴露于三卤甲烷与精液质量差之间的关联。
流行病学研究表明，人们已经意识到可能影响精液质量的环境因素。对于已被证实和存在争议的生殖和发育危害，有必要防止父母接触与这些危害相关的因素。
