Breathing in air pollution could increase the risk of male infertility by nearly 25%.
Long term exposure to pollution that comes from road traffic, building materials and other small particles that hang in the air, known as PM2.5, has been linked infertility rates in new research published in The BMJ has revealed.
The team of Danish scientists also revealed that road traffic noise pollution was linked to infertility in women over the age of 35.
The researchers looked at over 500,000 men and nearly 400,000 women aged between 30 and 45 with fewer than two children who were living in Denmark with a partner between 2000 and 2017.
They then calculated the yearly average PM2.5 concentration and road traffic noise level at the address of every participant between 1995 and 2017, and compared the data to the success of conception.
The participants chosen included a high proportion of people actively trying to conceive. People who already had an pre-existing infertility diagnosis were excluded, as well as those who had undergone surgery to prevent pregnancy or those who had been sterilised.
They found that exposure to PM2.5 at levels of 2.9 µg/m3 (a measurement which indicates the concentration of air pollutants) or higher across a five-year period was linked with a 24% increased infertility risk in men.
However, PM2.5 was not associated with infertility in women.
Exposure to 10.2 decibels higher average levels of road traffic over five years was also linked with a 14% increased risk of infertility among women over 35 years, but not among younger women (30-35 years).
Noise pollution was linked to a ‘small’ rise in infertility in older men, who were aged between 37 to 45.
In the study, the researchers wrote: ‘Both stress and sleep disturbance have been suggested to be associated with impaired reproductive function, including reduced sperm count and quality, menstrual irregularity.’
The researcher’s findings were the same for participants who lived in both rural and urban areas, and happened regardless of the participant’s financial status.
It should be noted that this is an observational study, so it cannot directly say that pollution causes infertility. It also did not measure any fumes or noise that a person could be exposed to at work or if they exercise outside, such as going for a run.
However, the researchers said that if their findings can be replicated then it could help create strategies and policies to protect the population from noise and air pollution.
Professor Jill Belch, an expert in vascular medicine and air pollution from the University of Dundee, who was not involved in the study, said: ‘This is a key study linking even more toxic effects to exposure to air pollution in particular to the very small particles PM2.5.
‘Childlessness can be catastrophic for some, and it is likely that the known harmful effects on sperm quality and movement are at play here. More attention needs to be paid to achieving legal limits of air pollution by Government and Local Authorities.’
She added that if this work can be replicated then it has ‘striking implications for fertility as a 24% fall in male fertility and a 14% in female fertility would have very profound effects on future generations.’
Other experts said, while a good study, the findings were limited.
Professor Allan Pacey, an expert in andrology at the University of Manchester, who was also not involved with the study, said: ‘It is possible that the real cause of this association lies with something that it was not possible to measure.
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‘For example, the authors are clear that they did not have information on lifestyle factors, such as alcohol use, smoking, or body mass index. However, overall, I think this is a good study and it should serve as useful basis for future investigations in other countries that are able to link their databases like this.’
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