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Pesticides: Pesticide-Induced Infertility in Male Workers.

Whorton D

NIOSH 1979 Jun:99-102

00091705

The effects of the nematocide 1,2-dibromo-3-chloropropane (96128) (DBCP) in 107 exposed male workers were examined for evidence of pesticide induced infertility, and compared with a control group of 35 nonexposed workers. Sperm cells were counted and a limited number of biopsies were done. In place of sperm sampling, an alternate method to evaluate or predict testicular function was used. Follicular stimulating hormone (9002680), (FSH), luteinizing hormone (39341838) (LH), and testosterone (58220) levels were determined for the entire study group. When there was an individual sperm count of less than 1 million sperm per milliliter of seminal fluid, a marked rise in FSH was observed. In other circumstances FSH concentration was not a valid predictor. LH exhibited a similar pattern, with testosterone showing the opposite effect. Approximately 14 percent of the noncontrol group was azospermic versus two percent of the controls. The author recommends monitoring testicular functions by semen analysis for certain occupational groups, and a referral and registry system for abnormal cases.

NIOSH-Contract; Contract-210-78-0053; Pesticides; Work-environment; Agricultural-chemicals; Reproductive-system-disorders; Males; Agricultural-workers; Pesticide-industry; Reproductive-hormones; Medical-screening; Laboratory-diagnosis; Chemical-workers;

96-12-8; 9002-68-0; 39341-83-8; 58-22-0;

19790601

Conference/Symposia Proceedings;

Contract;

1979

Contract-210-78-0053

DTS;

Fertility and Pregnancy Abnormalities; Disease and Injury; Reproductive-system-disorders;

Occupational Safety and Health Symposia 1978, Division of Technical Services, NIOSH, Cincinnati, Ohio

AZ; OH;