The effect of air dust pollution on semen quality and sperm parameters among infertile men in west of Iran

Abstract

Background: Pollutants during haze and Asian dust storms are transported out of the Asian continent, affecting the regional climate and the hydrological and biogeochemical cycles. Nonetheless, no specific studies evaluated the dust particles influence on semen quality in a specific geographical area.

Objective: In this article, we investigated the effect of dust particles on semen quality and sperm parameters among infertile men.

Methods: A descriptive-analytic study was conducted among 850 infertile men between 2011 and 2015 years. Semen quality was assessed according to the WHO 2010 guidelines, including sperm concentration, progressive motility, and morphology. Four-year average dust particle concentrations were estimated at each participant’s address using the Air Pollution Monitoring Station affiliated with the Department of Environment of Kermanshah city were gathered.

Results: Dust particle levels were highest in the summer months, in Kermanshah province. Our results show that, dust pollution was found to be significantly negatively correlated with sperm morphology and sperm concentration before and after lab-processing, but sperm progressive motility is low sensitive to dust particles.

Conclusions: Our findings showed that exposures to dust particle may influence sperm quantity in infertile men, consistent with the knowledge that sperm morphology and concentration are the most sensitive parameters of dust pollution.

Keywords:

• Male infertility
• dust particles levels
• air dust pollution
• Asian dust storms
• sperm quality

Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful to the Department of Environment (DOE) at Kermanshah province and the staff at Motazedi Infertility Center for cooperating with us in the current study.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.