Hazardous effects of smoke and smokeless mosquito coils on the fertility and respiratory functions in rats

Abstract

Although the same pyrethroid insecticide is impregnated in smoke and non-smoke coils, the non-smoke one emits fewer PICs (products of incomplete combustion) due to its different base materials, hence gaining popularity among the enlightened. However, the impacts of non-smoke mosquito coils on the respiratory and male reproductive systems in an insufficiently ventilated room simulating human’s closed bedrooms is yet to reveal. In this experiment, a total of eighteen male rats (age: 10-12 weeks) were randomly divided into three groups, each group containing six animals. The control group was exposed to normal environmental air, the non-smoke coil group inhaled D-transallethrin based coil smoke in a closed atmosphere and the smoke group was exposed to meperfluthrin based coil smoke in a well-ventilated room, for 8 hours per night. After 4 weeks of exposure, sperm parameters as well as testicular and pulmonary histopathology were accessed. The findings indicated that both mosquito coils considerably deteriorated sperm quality along with testicular and pulmonary architecture, with little distinction between them. Furthermore, the degenerated seminiferous tubules and distorted respiratory bronchioles lead us to conclude that if the room is not well-ventilated, the pollutants produced by burning non-smoke mosquito coils greatly exceed and it becomes as deleterious as conventional smoke emitting ones for the respiratory and male reproductive system.