title: Perfluorochemicals and human semen quality: the LIFE study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The relation between persistent environmental chemicals and semen quality is evolving, although limited data exist for men recruited from general populations.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  We examined the relation between perfluorinated chemicals (PFCs) and semen quality among 501 male partners of couples planning pregnancy.
  
  
  METHODS
  Using population-based sampling strategies, we recruited 501 couples discontinuing contraception from two U.S. geographic regions from 2005 through 2009. Baseline interviews and anthropometric assessments were conducted, followed by blood collection for the quantification of seven serum PFCs (perfluorosulfonates, perfluorocarboxylates, and perfluorosulfonamides) using tandem mass spectrometry. Men collected a baseline semen sample and another approximately 1 month later. Semen samples were shipped with freezer packs, and analyses were performed on the day after collection. We used linear regression to estimate the difference in each semen parameter associated with a one unit increase in the natural log-transformed PFC concentration after adjusting for confounders and modeling repeated semen samples. Sensitivity analyses included optimal Box-Cox transformation of semen quality end points.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Six PFCs [2-(N-methyl-perfluorooctane sulfonamido) acetate (Me-PFOSA-AcOH), perfluorodecanoate (PFDeA), perfluorononanoate (PFNA), perfluorooctane sulfonamide (PFOSA), perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS), and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA)] were associated with 17 semen quality end points before Box-Cox transformation. PFOSA was associated with smaller sperm head area and perimeter, a lower percentage of DNA stainability, and a higher percentage of bicephalic and immature sperm. PFDeA, PFNA, PFOA, and PFOS were associated with a lower percentage of sperm with coiled tails.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Select PFCs were associated with certain semen end points, with the most significant associations observed for PFOSA but with results in varying directions.
authors.affiliation: Division of Intramural Population Health Research, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services, Rockville, Maryland, USA.
authors.forename: Germaine M Buck
authors.initials: GM
authors.lastname: Louis
authors.forename: Zhen
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Enrique F
authors.initials: EF
authors.lastname: Schisterman
authors.forename: Sungduk
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Anne M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Sweeney
authors.forename: Rajeshwari
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Sundaram
authors.forename: Courtney D
authors.initials: CD
authors.lastname: Lynch
authors.forename: Robert E
authors.initials: RE
authors.lastname: Gore-Langton
authors.forename: Dana Boyd
authors.initials: DB
authors.lastname: Barr
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D004781:Environmental Exposure; D004785:Environmental Pollutants / Q000633:toxicity*; D005466:Fluorocarbons / Q000633:toxicity*; D006801:Humans; D016014:Linear Models; D008297:Male; D008824:Michigan; D012661:Semen / Q000187:drug effects*; D055101:Semen Analysis; D053719:Tandem Mass Spectrometry; D013781:Texas
chemical_list: D004785:Environmental Pollutants; D005466:Fluorocarbons