Abstract
Objectives: The aim was to determine whether occupational exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in men has adverse effect on semen quality. Methods: Forty-eight coke-oven workers, including 16 topside-oven (TO) workers and 32 sideoven (SO) workers, were studied. Ambient PAHs exposure, urinary 1-hydroxypyrene (1-OHP) levels, and parameters of semen quality were determined. Results: TO workers had significantly higher ambient PAHs exposure (3,436.1±3,411.0 vs. 1,123.1±1,829.3 ng/m3, P<0.01), urinary 1-OHP levels (207.8±176.4 vs. 54.0±44.8 μg/g, P<0.001), frequency of oligospermia (18.8 vs. 0%, P<0.05), and morphological abnormality in sperm (32.3 vs. 14.6%, P<0.01) than SO workers. Among cigarette smokers, TO workers had significantly higher rates of DNA denaturation in spermatozoa (αT) and percentage of sperm with increased DNA denaturation (COMP αT) levels than SO workers (246.2±49.5 vs. 198.1±30.3 for αT; 34.8±14.4 vs. 19.3±13.9% for COMP αT, P<0.05). There was a positive correlation between urinary 1-OHP and αT, COMP αT, and abnormal sperm morphology and a tenfold increase in urinary 1-OHP associated with a 2.35-fold increase in αT, as well as a 1.07-fold increase in percentage of sperm with abnormal morphology. Conclusions: A potential risk of sperm dysfunction should be considered for workers occupationally exposed to high levels of PAHs. Cigarette smoking may aggravate this risk. Urinary 1-OHP can be used as a biomarker predicting sperm dysfunction.
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Abbreviations
- 1-OHP:
-
1-Hydroxypyrene
- BaP:
-
Benzo(a)pyrene
- COMP αT:
-
Cells falling outside of the main population
- αT:
-
DNA denaturation per spermatozoa
- FCM:
-
Flow cytometry
- MMP:
-
Mitochondrial membrane potential
- NS:
-
Non-smoking
- PAHs:
-
Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons
- SO:
-
Sideoven
- SM:
-
Smoking
- TO:
-
Topside-oven
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Acknowledgements
This study was funded by grants from the National Science Council of Taiwan (NSC 92-2320-B-327-001 to PCH) and from the Institute of Occupational Safety and Health Council of Labor Affairs, Taipei (IOSH93-M366 to MTW).
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Hsu, PC., Chen, IY., Pan, CH. et al. Sperm DNA damage correlates with polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons biomarker in coke-oven workers. Int Arch Occup Environ Health 79, 349–356 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00420-005-0066-3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00420-005-0066-3