title: Association between air pollution and sperm quality: A systematic review and meta-analysis.
abstract: Exposure to ambient air pollution has been clearly linked to adverse reproductive outcome and fecundation index, but its effects on male semen quality are still uncertain. In this study, we reviewed information from ten studies to get the qualitative evidence of the influence of the ambient air pollution on sperm quality and collected data from six of the ten studies to conduct meta-analysis. The original studies classified participants into different exposure levels and the highest and lowest expose levels were chosen as high expose and low expose groups, respectively. The random-effect model was used in the meta-analysis with the weight mean difference (WMD) as the measure indicator. The WMDs (95% confidence intervals, CIs) of sperm volume, sperm count, semen concentration, sperm progressive motility, total motility, and normal morphology were 0.09 (-0.04, 0.23), 0.46 (-4.47, 5.39), -8.21 (-20.38, 3.96), -7.76 (-16.26, 0.74), -7.61 (-16.97, 1.74) and -3.40 (-7.42, 0.62), respectively. In conclusion, although the differences are not statistically significant between the two groups, the overall trends and evidence from this review indicate the chronic exposure to ambient pollutants at high level may alter men sperm quality.
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Health Statistics, West China School of Public Health, Sichuan University, Chengdu, 610041, China.
authors.forename: Zibing
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Deng
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Health Statistics, West China School of Public Health, Sichuan University, Chengdu, 610041, China.
authors.forename: Fei
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Health Statistics, West China School of Public Health, Sichuan University, Chengdu, 610041, China.
authors.forename: Meixia
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Health Statistics, West China School of Public Health, Sichuan University, Chengdu, 610041, China.
authors.forename: Lan
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Lan
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Health Statistics, West China School of Public Health, Sichuan University, Chengdu, 610041, China.
authors.forename: Zhijiao
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Qiao
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Health Statistics, West China School of Public Health, Sichuan University, Chengdu, 610041, China.
authors.forename: Yan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Cui
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Health Statistics, West China School of Public Health, Sichuan University, Chengdu, 610041, China.
authors.forename: Jinghuan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: An
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Health Statistics, West China School of Public Health, Sichuan University, Chengdu, 610041, China.
authors.forename: Nan
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Health Statistics, West China School of Public Health, Sichuan University, Chengdu, 610041, China.
authors.forename: Zhiwei
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Fan
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Health Statistics, West China School of Public Health, Sichuan University, Chengdu, 610041, China. Electronic address: zhaoxing731@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Xing
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Health Statistics, West China School of Public Health, Sichuan University, Chengdu, 610041, China. Electronic address: lixiaosong1101@126.com.
authors.forename: Xiaosong
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Li
mesh_terms: D000393:Air Pollutants / Q000032:analysis* / Q000633:toxicity; D006801:Humans; D019570:Inhalation Exposure / Q000032:analysis*; D008297:Male; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D052638:Particulate Matter / Q000032:analysis* / Q000633:toxicity; D012098:Reproduction / Q000187:drug effects*; D055101:Semen Analysis; D013076:Sperm Count; D013081:Sperm Motility / Q000187:drug effects*; D013094:Spermatozoa / Q000187:drug effects*
chemical_list: D000393:Air Pollutants; D052638:Particulate Matter
keywords: Air pollution; Meta-analysis; Sperm parameters; Sperm quality; Systematic review