Inverse association between ambient sulfur dioxide exposure and semen quality in Wuhan, China

Abstract

Evidence concerning the association between ambient gaseous air pollutant exposures and semen quality is sparse, and findings in previous studies remain largely inconsistent. We enrolled 1759 men with 2184 semen examinations at a large reproductive medical center in Wuhan, China between 2013 and 2015. Inverse distance weighting interpolation was performed to estimate individual exposures to SO ₂, NO ₂, CO and O ₃ during the entire period (lag 0–90 days) and key periods (lag 0-9, 10-14, 70-90 days) of sperm development. Linear mixed models were used to analyze exposure-response relationships. SO ₂ exposure with 0-90 days lag was significantly associated with monotonically decreased sperm concentration (β for each interquartile range increase of exposure: −0.14; 95% CI: −0.23, −0.05), sperm count (−0.21; −0.30, −0.12) and total motile sperm count (−0.16; −0.25, −0.08). Significant associations were observed for total and progressive motility only when SO ₂ exposure was at the highest quintile (all P _trend < 0.05). Similar trends were observed for SO ₂ exposure with 70-90 days lag. NO ₂, CO, or O ₃ exposure was not significantly associated with semen quality. Our results suggest that ambient SO ₂ exposure adversely affects semen quality, and highlight the potential to improve semen quality by reducing ambient SO ₂ exposure during early stage of sperm development.

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