title: A method for quantitative assessment of reproductive risks to the human male.
abstract: There is a need for quantitative assessment of reproductive risks following human exposure to toxic agents. Current methods only estimate exposure levels that are unlikely to produce appreciable risk; they do not address the magnitude of risk. The quantitative reproductive risk estimation (QRRE) approach presented here enables calculation of the increased incidence of infertility in a human population resulting from exposure of males to a toxic agent. The four steps involve (A) obtaining a dose-response curve in experimental animals for the effect of a toxicant on a measure of reproductive function; (B) applying an interspecies extrapolation factor (IEF) derived for a similar toxicant to relate doses in animals and humans that produce equivalent reproductive toxicity; (C) using human exposure and uptake levels, along with the IEF and the dose-response curve, to calculate impairment of the measure in humans; and (D) computing the increase in human infertility caused by that impairment. The QRRE method is used to compute reproductive risks from dibromochloropropane exposure.
authors.affiliation: Department of Experimental Radiotherapy, University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston 77030.
authors.forename: M L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Meistrich
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D015415:Biomarkers; D004781:Environmental Exposure; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007248:Infertility, Male / Q000139:chemically induced* / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D015233:Models, Statistical; D012306:Risk; D013076:Sperm Count / Q000187:drug effects
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers