Pesticide exposure affects male fertility
NEW YORK, Dec 31 (Reuters Health) -- A class of pesticides widely used in the developing world may disrupt men's reproductive hormone levels and contribute to fertility problems, according to a study in the December issue of the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine.
Previous research findings have suggested that exposure to organophosphate pesticides -- such as methyl- and ethylparathion -- can disrupt fertility. In experiments with mice, researchers found that exposure to methylparathion was associated with abnormal sperm production.
In the new study, Dr. Xiping Xu of the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston, Massachusetts, and colleagues measured pesticide byproducts and reproductive hormone levels in urine, blood, and semen samples from 34 Chinese men working in a factory producing organophosphate pesticides, and 44 Chinese men working in a textile factory.
After controlling for the men's ages, smoking habits and other factors that can affect hormonal levels, the researchers found that men who had relatively high levels of exposure to the pesticides showed small but significant sex hormone abnormalities. Among other things, these men produced decreased levels of testosterone. The greater the exposure, the greater the abnormalities.
``We conclude that organophosphate pesticides have a small effect on male reproductive hormones,'' Xu and colleagues write. To the best of their knowledge, this is the first study that examines the effects of organophosphate pesticide exposure on the reproductive hormones of pesticide factory workers.
Further study, with a larger group of men, is warranted to clarify the pesticides' effects on both hormone levels and reproductive function, they conclude.
SOURCE: Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine 1998;40:1038-1047.
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