Perfluorochemicals and Human Semen Quality: The LIFE Study

• Type of Material: Article
• Authors: Germaine M. Buck Louis, National Institutes of Health; Zhen Chen, National Institutes of Health; Enrique F. Schisterman, National Institutes of Health; Sungduk Kim, National Institutes of Health; Anne M. Sweeney, University of Texas Rural School of Public Health; Rajeshwari Sundaram, National Institutes of Health; Courtney D. Lynch, Ohio State University; Robert E. Gore-Langton, The EMMES Corporation; Dana Barr, Emory University
• Language: English
• Date: 2015-01-01
• Publisher: National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS)
• Publication Version: Final Published Version
• Copyright Statement: Publication of EHP lies in the public domain and is therefore without copyright.
• Final Published Version (URL): http://dx.doi.org/10.1289/ehp.1307621
• Title of Journal or Parent Work: Environmental Health Perspectives
• ISSN: 0091-6765
• Volume: 123
• Issue: 1
• Start Page: 57
• End Page: 63
• Grant/Funding Information: Supported by the Intramural Research Program of the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (N01-HD-3-3355, N01-HD-3-3356, and NOH-HD-3-3358).
• Keywords: PERFLUOROOCTANOATE; SERUM COTININE; Science & Technology; EXPOSURE; Life Sciences & Biomedicine; Public, Environmental & Occupational Health; Environmental Sciences; Environmental Sciences & Ecology; PFOS; MEN; MALE REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH; SPERM DNA FRAGMENTATION; ENDOCRINE DISRUPTERS; Toxicology; PERFLUORINATED COMPOUNDS; IN-VITRO
• Research Categories: Environmental Sciences; Health Sciences, Toxicology

Abstract

BACKGROUND: The relation between persistent environmental chemicals and semen quality is evolving, although limited data exist for men recruited from general populations. OBJECTIVES: We examined the relation between perfluorinated chemicals (PFCs) and semen quality among 501 male partners of couples planning pregnancy. METHODS: Using population-based sampling strategies, we recruited 501 couples discontinuing contraception from two U.S. geographic regions from 2005 through 2009. Baseline interviews and anthropometric assessments were conducted, followed by blood collection for the quantification of seven serum PFCs (perfluorosulfonates, perfluorocarboxylates, and perfluorosulfonamides) using tandem mass spectrometry. Men collected a baseline semen sample and another approximately 1 month later. Semen samples were shipped with freezer packs, and analyses were performed on the day after collection. We used linear regression to estimate the difference in each semen parameter associated with a one unit increase in the natural log-transformed PFC concentration after adjusting for confounders and modeling repeated semen samples. Sensitivity analyses included optimal Box-Cox transformation of semen quality end points. RESULTS: Six PFCs [2-(N-methyl-perfluorooctane sulfonamido) acetate (Me-PFOSA-AcOH), perfluorodecanoate (PFDeA), perfluorononanoate (PFNA), perfluorooctane sulfonamide (PFOSA), perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS), and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA)] were associated with 17 semen quality end points before Box-Cox transformation. PFOSA was associated with smaller sperm head area and perimeter, a lower percentage of DNA stainability, and a higher percentage of bicephalic and immature sperm. PFDeA, PFNA, PFOA, and PFOS were associated with a lower percentage of sperm with coiled tails. CONCLUSIONS: Select PFCs were associated with certain semen end points, with the most significant associations observed for PFOSA but with results in varying directions.