Time to pregnancy among partners of men exposed to di(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate.
OBJECTIVE
This study assessed paternal occupational exposure to di(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate (DEHP) in association with reduced fertility.


METHODS
Men working in three plants with DEHP exposure were studied retrospectively. Male and female employees and their partners were invited to participate if they had reported a pregnancy or an attempt to achieve a pregnancy. Postal questionnaires and telephone interviews were used to collect additional data from the men and women, respectively. Information on time to pregnancy was eligible for 326 pregnancies fathered by 193 men. Male exposure to DEHP during every month of their time to pregnancy was classified into one of three exposure categories. The exposure ranged from <0.1 to 2.1 mg/m3. The fathers of only four pregnancies had DEHP exposure of >0.5 mg/m3 during the time to pregnancy. The pregnancies of employed women with unexposed partners or pregnancies of employed men unexposed during the time to pregnancy formed the reference group.


RESULTS
The fecundability ratio for time to pregnancy was 1.07 [95% confidence interval (95% CI) 0.84-1.35] for those with low exposure and 0.97 (95% CI 0.70-1.33) for the highly exposed after adjustment for the father's age, mother's age, and length of recall. When the analyses were restricted to first pregnancy, the fecundability ratio was 1.13 (95% Cl 0.83-1.56) for low exposure and 1.02 (95% CI 0.66-1.59) for high exposure.


CONCLUSIONS
Time to pregnancy is not prolonged among couples with paternal exposure to DEHP at a mean exposure level of <0.5 mg/m3.
Modigh
Cecilia M
CM
Department of Environmental Medicine, Göteborg University, Göteborg, Sweden.
Bodin
S Lennart V
SL
Lillienberg
Linnéa
L
Dahlman-Höglund
Anna
A
Akesson
Bengt
B
Axelsson
Gösta
G
D000328:Adult; D002617:Chemical Industry; D004051:Diethylhexyl Phthalate / Q000009:adverse effects*; D005260:Female; D005298:Fertility / Q000187:drug effects*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D016273:Occupational Exposure / Q000009:adverse effects*; D018812:Paternal Exposure / Q000009:adverse effects*; D011143:Polyvinyl Chloride / Q000009:adverse effects; D011247:Pregnancy; D012747:Sexual Partners; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013548:Sweden; D013997:Time Factors
D011143:Polyvinyl Chloride; D004051:Diethylhexyl Phthalate