Fire and Rescue NSW, Greenacre, New South Wales, Australia.
QAEHS, Queensland Alliance for Environmental Health Sciences, The University of Queensland, Woolloongabba, Queensland, Australia.
Reprod Fertil. 2021 Mar 11;2(1):L13-L15. doi: 10.1530/RAF-20-0070. eCollection 2021 Jan.
Firefighters are occupationally exposed to heat intensities and chemical concentrations that may affect fertility. Twenty firefighters participated in an exploratory study assessing fertility of firefighters via an online survey and semen analysis. Data analysis included consideration of demographic characteristics, reproductive history and occupational exposures. Overall, firefighter semen parameters were below World Health Organisation reference values designating fertility in men. Firefighters younger than 45 years had a higher incidence of abnormal semen parameters (42%) than those aged 45 years or greater (9%). Increased rank and higher levels of occupational and/or personal hygiene were associated with improved semen quality. Increased frequency of fire exposure was associated with a reduction in normal forms, volume, sperm concentration and total sperm count. Sperm clumping was greater than 10% in 26% of samples, suggesting reduced semen quality. This exploratory study provides novel data that support the hypothesis of an association between semen quality and firefighter's occupational exposure to toxic environments.
消防员的职业暴露于高温强度和化学浓度中，可能会影响生育能力。20 名消防员参与了一项探索性研究，通过在线调查和精液分析评估消防员的生育能力。数据分析包括考虑人口统计学特征、生殖史和职业暴露。总体而言，消防员的精液参数低于世界卫生组织指定男性生育能力的参考值。年龄在 45 岁以下的消防员异常精液参数的发生率（42%）高于 45 岁或以上的消防员（9%）。职级升高和职业及/或个人卫生水平提高与精液质量改善相关。火灾暴露频率增加与正常形态、体积、精子浓度和总精子数减少相关。在 26%的样本中，精子聚集超过 10%，提示精液质量下降。这项探索性研究提供了新的数据，支持精液质量与消防员职业暴露于有毒环境之间存在关联的假设。
