title: Associations between occupation exposure to Formaldehyde and semen quality, a primary study.
abstract: Formaldehyde (FA), a ubiquitous environmental pollutant, has long been suspected of having male reproductive toxicity. However, FA male reproductive toxicity was inconclusive due to dearth of human studies. Therefore, we sought to investigate whether occupational exposure to FA affects semen quality. Semen quality including five conventional parameters and seven kinematics parameters were compared between 114 male workers occupationally exposed to FA and 76 referents. FA exposure index (FEI) was measured and calculated. Our results showed that sperm progressive motility, total sperm motility, VCL, VSL and VAP were statistically significant decreased in FA exposure workers compared with the referents. Moreover, FEI was significantly negative associated with sperm progressive motility (β = -0.19, P = 0.01) and total sperm motility (β = -0.23, P = 0.004). In addition, a significant elevated risk of abnormal sperm progressive motility were observed in both low- (OR = 2.58; 95% CI: 1.11-5.97) and high-FA-exposed group (OR = 3.41; 95% CI: 1.45-7.92) respectively. Furthermore, a significant increased risk was also estimated for abnormal total sperm motility in both low- (OR = 3.21; 95% CI: 1.24-8.28) and high-FA-exposed group (OR = 4.84; 95% CI: 1.83-12.81) respectively. In conclusion, our study revealed the adverse effects of FA occupation exposure on semen quality, especially on sperm motion parameters.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, School of basic medical sciences, Health science center, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, 710061, China.|Reproductive Medicine Center, Medical School, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, 710061, China.|Reproductive Medical Center, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Xijing Hospital of the Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, 710032, China.
authors.forename: Hai-xu
authors.initials: HX
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Reproductive Medicine Center, Medical School, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, 710061, China.|Department of Urinary Surgery, The Second Affiliated Hospital, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, 710004, China.
authors.forename: He-cheng
authors.initials: HC
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, School of basic medical sciences, Health science center, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, 710061, China.|Reproductive Medicine Center, Medical School, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, 710061, China.
authors.forename: Mo-qi
authors.initials: MQ
authors.lastname: Lv
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, School of basic medical sciences, Health science center, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, 710061, China.|Reproductive Medicine Center, Medical School, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, 710061, China.|Key Laboratory of Environment and Genes Related to Diseases, Ministry of Education, Xi'an, 710061, China.
authors.forename: Dang-xia
authors.initials: DX
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, School of basic medical sciences, Health science center, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, 710061, China.|Key Laboratory of Environment and Genes Related to Diseases, Ministry of Education, Xi'an, 710061, China.
authors.forename: Li-zhi
authors.initials: LZ
authors.lastname: Bai
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, School of basic medical sciences, Health science center, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, 710061, China.|Key Laboratory of Environment and Genes Related to Diseases, Ministry of Education, Xi'an, 710061, China.
authors.forename: Liang-zhi
authors.initials: LZ
authors.lastname: Du
authors.affiliation: Reproductive Medicine Center, Maternal and child care Hospital of Shaanxi Province, Xi'an, 710003, China.
authors.forename: Xia
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Xue
authors.affiliation: Electric Power Science Research Institute of Shaanxi Province, Xi'an, 710054, China.
authors.forename: Pu
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.affiliation: Reproductive Medicine Center, Medical School, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, 710061, China.
authors.forename: Shu-dong
authors.initials: SD
authors.lastname: Qiu
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena; D015992:Body Mass Index; D005557:Formaldehyde / Q000633:toxicity*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D016273:Occupational Exposure; D016017:Odds Ratio; D055101:Semen Analysis; D013081:Sperm Motility / Q000187:drug effects; D013094:Spermatozoa / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
chemical_list: D005557:Formaldehyde