Organophosphate Pesticide Exposure and Semen Quality in Healthy Young Men: A Pilot Study

This cross-sectional pilot study aimed to examine associations between urinary metabolites of organophosphate (OP) pesticides and semen quality in 42 healthy young men. Participants answered questionnaires, provided semen and urine samples, and had anthropometric measures taken. Urine and seminal plasma were assayed for dialkylphosphate (DAP) metabolites of OP pesticides using high-performance liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization-tandem mass spectrometry. Semen quality parameters were analyzed according to the World Health Organization protocol, and seminal oxidative stress was assayed using MiOXSYS, a galvanic cell-based technology that yields an integrated measure of oxidants and antioxidants. Associations of OP pesticide metabolites with continuous and dichotomous sperm concentration, percent motility, and percent normal morphology, and with seminal oxidative-reduction potential (ORP) were analyzed statistically. OP pesticide exposure was associated with lower overall semen quality. Specifically, ∑DAP metabolites, driven by diethyl metabolites, was inversely associated with percent sperm motility, but this relationship was not mediated by seminal ORP. Seminal ORP was inversely associated with sperm concentration, but OP pesticide exposure was not associated with seminal ORP.