Exposure to polybrominated diphenyl ethers and male reproductive function in Greenland, Poland and Ukraine

• Published in: Reproductive Toxicology
• Main Authors: Gunnar Toft, Virissa Lenters, Roel Vermeulen, Dick Heederik, Cathrine Thomsen, Georg Becher, Aleksander Giwercman, Davide Bizzaro, Marcello Spanò, Lars Rylander, Henning S. Pedersen, Paweł Strucinski, Valentyna Zviezdai, Jens Peter Bonde, MANICARDI, Gian Carlo
• Other Authors: Gunnar, Toft, Virissa, Lenter, Roel, Vermeulen, Dick, Heederik, Cathrine, Thomsen, Georg, Becher, Aleksander, Giwercman, Davide, Bizzaro, Manicardi, Gian Carlo, Marcello, Spanò, Lars, Rylander, Henning S., Pedersen, Paweł, Strucinski, Valentyna, Zviezdai, Jens Peter, Bonde
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: 2014
• Subjects: Semen quality; Reproductive hormone; inhibin B; DNA damage; apoptosi; PBDE; Arctic; Greenland
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/11380/988504; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.reprotox.2013.10.002

tAnimal and a few human studies suggest that polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) may affect malereproductive function. The aim of the present study was to evaluate if male reproductive function wasassociated with serum level of PBDEs. We evaluated, in a cross-sectional study, the effects of environmen-tal exposure to BDE-47 and BDE-153 on reproductive hormones and semen quality, including markersof DNA damage and apoptosis, in 299 spouses of pregnant women from Greenland, Poland and Ukraine.Adjusted linear regression models indicated no strong associations between BDE-47 or BDE-153 expo-sure and markers of male semen quality or reproductive hormones. In the largest study to date wedemonstrate that BDE-47 and BDE-153 exposure was not associated with altered semen characteristicsor reproductive hormones, indicating that male reproductive function is not affected by the exposurelevel of these compounds in fertile European or Arctic populations.