Male urinary biomarkers of antimicrobial exposure and bi-directional associations with semen quality parameters

• Type of Material: Article
• Authors: Melissa Smarr, Emory University; Masato Honda, State University of New York Albany; Kurunthachalam Kannan, State University of New York Albany; Zhen Chen, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development; Sungduk Kim, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development; Germaine M. Buck Louis, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development
• Language: English
• Date: 2018-04-01
• Publisher: Elsevier: 12 months
• Publication Version: Author Accepted Manuscript (After Peer Review)
• Copyright Statement: © 2018
• License: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0 International
• Final Published Version (URL): http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.reprotox.2018.02.008
• Title of Journal or Parent Work: Reproductive Toxicology
• ISSN: 0890-6238
• Volume: 77
• Start Page: 103
• End Page: 108
• Grant/Funding Information: This work was supported by the National Institutes of Health, Intramural Research Program, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (contracts N01-HD-3–3355; N01-HD-3–3356; NOH-HD-3–3358; HHSN27500003).
• Keywords: TRICLOSAN; Parabens; Life Sciences & Biomedicine; MALE REPRODUCTIVE-SYSTEM; Semen quality; Triclocarban; Reproductive Biology; PERSONAL CARE PRODUCTS; Toxicology; HEALTHY-MEN; Science & Technology; Triclosan; PARABENS; Antimicrobials; DETECTION LIMITS; BUTYLPARABEN; MALE RATS; UNITED-STATES; SPERM DNA-DAMAGE
• Research Categories: Health Sciences, Public Health; Biology, Biostatistics; Health Sciences, Toxicology

Abstract

Antimicrobials including parabens, triclosan, and triclocarban have endocrine disrupting properties. Among 501 male partners of couples planning to become pregnant, preconception urinary biomarkers of parabens, triclosan and triclocarban exposure were quantified in spot urine samples. Men also provided two fresh semen samples collected approximately one month to undergo 24-h semen quality analysis. Linear mixed-effects models, adjusted for creatinine, race, age and body mass index, were utilized to assess the relationship between log transformed chemical concentrations rescaled by their standard deviations and semen parameters. Methyl, ethyl and butyl parabens, were associated with diminished sperm count and several sperm motility parameters. Hydroxylated paraben metabolites and triclosan were significantly positively associated with select semen quality parameters. Overall, our findings suggest that specific urinary parabens found in consumer goods (methyl, ethyl and butyl parabens) may adversely impact sperm quality parameters among reproductive-age male partners of couples trying for pregnancy.