[Effects of fenvalerate exposure on the semen quality of occupational workers].
OBJECTIVE
To study the effects of fenvalerate exposure on the semen quality of occupational workers in order to find out the early effective biomarkers.


METHODS
Thirty-two male workers who exposed to fenvalerate and 46 male administrators in the office in a pesticide factory were selected as the exposure group and internal control group, respectively, and 22 male administrators in a center for disease control were served as the external control group. In order to evaluate the exposed levels, the concentration of fenvalerate, toluene and xylene in the ambient air of working place in these three groups were monitored simultaneously for three consecutive days. After the semen were collected according to the standard method, the workers' semen qualities were analysed with University of California at Davis (UCDavis) method and the sperm motility were evaluated using computer assisted sperm analysis(CASA).


RESULTS
In the exposure group, the concentrations of fenvalerate were significantly higher than those in the internal and external control group (P < 0.01), while no significant difference of the concentration on toluene or xylene was found (P > 0.05). Sperm motion parameters in the exposure group such as linearity(LIN), straightness(STR), and the sperm count were decreased significantly, and the abnormality rate of viscidity, coagulation and sperm count were increased significantly as compared with the internal and the external control groups(P < 0.05). Furthermore, the sperm progression and beat cross frequency (BCF) in the exposure group were also lower significantly than those in the external control group(P < 0.05), while the abnormality rate of sperm progression was increased significantly.


CONCLUSIONS
In such a low concentration, occupational exposure to fenvalerate can affect workers' semen quality, especially the sperm count and sperm movement ability.
Tan
Li-Feng
LF
School of Public Health, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210029, China.
Wang
Shou-Lin
SL
Sun
Xue-Zhao
XZ
Li
Yan-Nan
YN
Wang
Qian-Li
QL
Ji
Jun-Min
JM
Chen
Long-Sheng
LS
Wang
Xin-Ru
XR
D000328:Adult; D006801:Humans; D007306:Insecticides / Q000633:toxicity*; D008297:Male; D009570:Nitriles; D016273:Occupational Exposure / Q000009:adverse effects*; D011722:Pyrethrins / Q000633:toxicity*; D012661:Semen / Q000187:drug effects*; D013076:Sperm Count; D013081:Sperm Motility / Q000187:drug effects
D007306:Insecticides; D009570:Nitriles; D011722:Pyrethrins; C017690:fenvalerate