title: Association between ambient particulate matter exposure and semen quality in Wuhan, China.
abstract: Health effects of exposure to particulate matter (PM) on male reproductive health remain unclear. Only a limited number of studies have investigated the effects of PM2.5or PM10exposure on semen quality, and the results were largely inconsistent.
  
  
  
  To quantitatively assess the exposure-response association between PM exposure and semen quality in Chinese men who were exposed to a wide concentration range of PM.
  
  
  
  We investigated 1759 men from Wuhan, China, who were partners of women undergoing assisted reproductive technology procedures, and had semen examined at least once between 2013 and 2015. Individual PM2.5and PM10exposures during 0-90, 0-9, 10-14 and 70-90days before each semen examination (corresponding to the entire and three key periods of sperm development, respectively) were retrospectively estimated by inverse distance weighting interpolation. Linear mixed models were used to assess exposure-response relations of PM exposure with sperm concentration, count and motility.
  
  
  
  PM2.5exposure during 0-90 lag days ranged from 27.3 to 172.4μg/m3. It was linearly and inversely associated with sperm concentration (β: -0.20; 95% CI: -0.34, -0.07) and count (-0.22; -0.35, -0.08). For the three key exposure periods, only PM2.5exposure during the 70-90 lag days was significantly associated with sperm concentration (-0.12; -0.22, -0.03) and count (-0.12; -0.21, -0.02). Sensitivity analyses for a subgroup (n=1146) excluding subjects with abnormal sperm concentration, count or motility yielded similar results. Compared with PM2.5, we found generally similar associations for PM10exposure in relation to sperm concentration and count, except that the associations appeared to be nonlinear with inverted J-shaped relationships. Neither PM2.5nor PM10exposure was significantly associated with sperm motility (all p>0.05).
  
  
  
  Our results suggest that ambient PM exposure during sperm development adversely affects semen quality, in particular sperm concentration and count.
authors.affiliation: Reproductive Medical Center, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, China.
authors.forename: Li
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Reproductive Medical Center, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, China.
authors.forename: Lei
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Jin
authors.affiliation: Hubei Provincial Key Laboratory for Applied Toxicology, Hubei Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Wuhan, Hubei, China.
authors.forename: Tingming
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Shi
authors.affiliation: Department of Immunization Program, Zhejiang Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China.
authors.forename: Bing
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: School of Public Health, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, China.
authors.forename: Yun
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: School of Public Health, Wuhan University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, China.
authors.forename: Ting
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, College of Public Health, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa, USA.
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Bao
authors.affiliation: Wuhan Regional Climate Center, Wuhan, Hubei, China.
authors.forename: Hua
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Xiang
authors.affiliation: School of Public Health, Wuhan University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, China.
authors.forename: Yao
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zuo
authors.affiliation: School of Public Health, Wuhan University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, China.
authors.forename: Guanlian
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Reproductive Medical Center, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, China.
authors.forename: Cheng
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Center of Reproductive Medicine and Andrology, Shenzhen University Hospital, Shenzhen Second People's Hospital, Shenzhen, Guangdong, China.
authors.forename: Yonggang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Duan
authors.affiliation: Hubei Provincial Key Laboratory for Applied Toxicology, Hubei Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Wuhan, Hubei, China.
authors.forename: Zhe
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Peng
authors.affiliation: Hubei Provincial Key Laboratory for Applied Toxicology, Hubei Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Wuhan, Hubei, China.
authors.forename: Xiji
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: Hubei Provincial Key Laboratory for Applied Toxicology, Hubei Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Wuhan, Hubei, China.
authors.forename: Hai
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Hubei Provincial Key Laboratory for Applied Toxicology, Hubei Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Wuhan, Hubei, China.
authors.forename: Tian
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: Hubei Provincial Key Laboratory for Applied Toxicology, Hubei Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Wuhan, Hubei, China.
authors.forename: Yonggang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Hubei Provincial Key Laboratory for Applied Toxicology, Hubei Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Wuhan, Hubei, China.
authors.forename: Xinyun
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Pan
authors.affiliation: Hubei Provincial Key Laboratory for Applied Toxicology, Hubei Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Wuhan, Hubei, China.
authors.forename: Ying
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Xia
authors.affiliation: School of Economics and Management, Beijing Jiaotong University, Beijing, China; Beijing Center for Industrial Security and Development Research, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Xun
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Gong
authors.affiliation: School of Public Health, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, China.
authors.forename: Weihong
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Hubei Provincial Key Laboratory for Applied Toxicology, Hubei Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Wuhan, Hubei, China. Electronic address: yliu@mails.tjmu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Yuewei
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Liu
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000393:Air Pollutants; D002681:China; D006801:Humans; D016014:Linear Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D052638:Particulate Matter / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000032:analysis; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012661:Semen / Q000187:drug effects; D055101:Semen Analysis; D013076:Sperm Count; D013081:Sperm Motility / Q000187:drug effects*; D013094:Spermatozoa / Q000187:drug effects*; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D000393:Air Pollutants; D052638:Particulate Matter
keywords: Air pollution; Exposure-response relation; Particulate matter; Semen quality; Sperm concentration