{"title":"Impact of environmental factors on human semen quality and male fertility: a narrative review","authors":"Naina Kumar, Amit Kant Singh","doi":"10.1186/s12302-021-00585-w","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Background</h3><p>Worldwide rising trend in infertility has been observed in the past few years with male infertility arising as a major problem. One main reason for the rise in male infertility cases is declining semen quality. It was found that any factor that affects semen quality can affect male fertility. There are several modifiable factors affecting semen quality including air pollution, use of pesticides and harmful chemicals, exposure to excessive heat, and can lead to decreased male fertility.</p><h3>Main body</h3><p>The present review focuses on some of these environmental factors that affect semen quality and hence, can cause male infertility. The literature from 2000 till June 2021 was searched from various English peer-reviewed journals and WHO fact sheets using the USA National Library of Medicine (PubMed) database, the regional portal of Virtual Health Library, and Scientific Electronic Library Online. The search terms used were: “Air pollution and male fertility”, “Chemicals and male infertility”, “Heat exposure and infertility”, “heavy metals and male fertility”.</p><h3>Conclusion</h3><p>Adverse environmental factors have a significant impact on semen quality, leading to decreased sperm concentration, total sperm count, motility, viability, and increased abnormal sperm morphology, sperm DNA fragmentation, ultimately causing male infertility. However, all these factors are modifiable and reversible, and hence, by mere changing of lifestyle, many of these risk factors can be avoided.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":54293,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Sciences Europe","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":5.9000,"publicationDate":"2022-01-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://enveurope.springeropen.com/counter/pdf/10.1186/s12302-021-00585-w","citationCount":"38","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Environmental Sciences Europe","FirstCategoryId":"93","ListUrlMain":"https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s12302-021-00585-w","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"Environmental Science","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 38
Abstract
Background
Worldwide rising trend in infertility has been observed in the past few years with male infertility arising as a major problem. One main reason for the rise in male infertility cases is declining semen quality. It was found that any factor that affects semen quality can affect male fertility. There are several modifiable factors affecting semen quality including air pollution, use of pesticides and harmful chemicals, exposure to excessive heat, and can lead to decreased male fertility.
Main body
The present review focuses on some of these environmental factors that affect semen quality and hence, can cause male infertility. The literature from 2000 till June 2021 was searched from various English peer-reviewed journals and WHO fact sheets using the USA National Library of Medicine (PubMed) database, the regional portal of Virtual Health Library, and Scientific Electronic Library Online. The search terms used were: “Air pollution and male fertility”, “Chemicals and male infertility”, “Heat exposure and infertility”, “heavy metals and male fertility”.
Conclusion
Adverse environmental factors have a significant impact on semen quality, leading to decreased sperm concentration, total sperm count, motility, viability, and increased abnormal sperm morphology, sperm DNA fragmentation, ultimately causing male infertility. However, all these factors are modifiable and reversible, and hence, by mere changing of lifestyle, many of these risk factors can be avoided.
期刊介绍:
ESEU is an international journal, focusing primarily on Europe, with a broad scope covering all aspects of environmental sciences, including the main topic regulation.
ESEU will discuss the entanglement between environmental sciences and regulation because, in recent years, there have been misunderstandings and even disagreement between stakeholders in these two areas. ESEU will help to improve the comprehension of issues between environmental sciences and regulation.
ESEU will be an outlet from the German-speaking (DACH) countries to Europe and an inlet from Europe to the DACH countries regarding environmental sciences and regulation.
Moreover, ESEU will facilitate the exchange of ideas and interaction between Europe and the DACH countries regarding environmental regulatory issues.
Although Europe is at the center of ESEU, the journal will not exclude the rest of the world, because regulatory issues pertaining to environmental sciences can be fully seen only from a global perspective.