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Exposure to perfluorinated compounds and human semen quality in arctic and European populations

Toft, G. ; Jönsson, Bo A LU ; Lindh, Christian LU orcid ; Giwercman, Aleksander LU ; Spano, M. ; Heederik, D. ; Lenters, V. ; Vermeulen, R. ; Rylander, Lars LU orcid and Pedersen, H. S. , et al. (2012) In Human Reproduction 27(8). p.2532-2540
Abstract
Perfluorinated compounds (PFCs) have been suspected to adversely affect human reproductive health. The aim of this study was to investigate the associations between PFC exposure and male semen quality. PFCs were measured in serum from 588 partners of pregnant women from Greenland, Poland and Ukraine who provided a semen sample, using liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry. Perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS), perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), perfluorohexane sulfonic acid (PFHxS) and perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA) could be detected in 97 of the samples. The associations between levels of these compounds and semen volume, sperm concentration, total sperm count, motility and morphology were assessed. Across countries, sperm concentration,... (More)
Perfluorinated compounds (PFCs) have been suspected to adversely affect human reproductive health. The aim of this study was to investigate the associations between PFC exposure and male semen quality. PFCs were measured in serum from 588 partners of pregnant women from Greenland, Poland and Ukraine who provided a semen sample, using liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry. Perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS), perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), perfluorohexane sulfonic acid (PFHxS) and perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA) could be detected in 97 of the samples. The associations between levels of these compounds and semen volume, sperm concentration, total sperm count, motility and morphology were assessed. Across countries, sperm concentration, total sperm count and semen volume were not consistently associated with PFOS, PFOA, PFHxS or PFNA levels. The proportion of morphologically normal cells was 35 lower [95 confidence interval (CI): 466) for the third tertile of PFOS exposure as compared with the first. A similar reduction was found in relation to increasing PFHxS levels. At the third PFOA exposure tertile, the percentage of motile spermatozoa was 19 (95 CI: 1 to 39) higher than in the first. The most robust finding in the present study was the negative associations between PFOS exposure and sperm morphology suggesting adverse effects of PFOS on semen quality, possibly due to interference with the endocrine activity or sperm membrane function. It cannot be excluded that this association and the positive association between PFOA and semen motility, which was not consistent across countries, might represent a chance finding due to the multiple statistical tests being performed. (Less)
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organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
PFOS, PFOA, perflourinated compounds, semen quality, sperm morphology
in
Human Reproduction
volume
27
issue
8
pages
2532 - 2540
publisher
Oxford University Press
external identifiers
  • wos:000306648600035
  • scopus:84870014488
  • pmid:22647447
ISSN
0268-1161
DOI
10.1093/humrep/des185
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
963270c8-9805-4037-ac97-52ca30b9a842 (old id 3079905)
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 10:17:42
date last changed
2022-05-13 07:20:46
@article{963270c8-9805-4037-ac97-52ca30b9a842,
  abstract     = {{Perfluorinated compounds (PFCs) have been suspected to adversely affect human reproductive health. The aim of this study was to investigate the associations between PFC exposure and male semen quality. PFCs were measured in serum from 588 partners of pregnant women from Greenland, Poland and Ukraine who provided a semen sample, using liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry. Perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS), perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), perfluorohexane sulfonic acid (PFHxS) and perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA) could be detected in 97 of the samples. The associations between levels of these compounds and semen volume, sperm concentration, total sperm count, motility and morphology were assessed. Across countries, sperm concentration, total sperm count and semen volume were not consistently associated with PFOS, PFOA, PFHxS or PFNA levels. The proportion of morphologically normal cells was 35 lower [95 confidence interval (CI): 466) for the third tertile of PFOS exposure as compared with the first. A similar reduction was found in relation to increasing PFHxS levels. At the third PFOA exposure tertile, the percentage of motile spermatozoa was 19 (95 CI: 1 to 39) higher than in the first. The most robust finding in the present study was the negative associations between PFOS exposure and sperm morphology suggesting adverse effects of PFOS on semen quality, possibly due to interference with the endocrine activity or sperm membrane function. It cannot be excluded that this association and the positive association between PFOA and semen motility, which was not consistent across countries, might represent a chance finding due to the multiple statistical tests being performed.}},
  author       = {{Toft, G. and Jönsson, Bo A and Lindh, Christian and Giwercman, Aleksander and Spano, M. and Heederik, D. and Lenters, V. and Vermeulen, R. and Rylander, Lars and Pedersen, H. S. and Ludwicki, J. K. and Zviezdai, V. and Bonde, J. P.}},
  issn         = {{0268-1161}},
  keywords     = {{PFOS; PFOA; perflourinated compounds; semen quality; sperm morphology}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{8}},
  pages        = {{2532--2540}},
  publisher    = {{Oxford University Press}},
  series       = {{Human Reproduction}},
  title        = {{Exposure to perfluorinated compounds and human semen quality in arctic and European populations}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/humrep/des185}},
  doi          = {{10.1093/humrep/des185}},
  volume       = {{27}},
  year         = {{2012}},
}