Ecotoxicology and environmental safety, 303, 118955, 2025
Ambient air pollution during developmental windows of spermatogenesis and semen quality among an infertility treatment seeking population
J Richard Pilsner, T. Canty, Neil J Perkins
Pauline Mendola, May Shaaban, Rachael B. Hemmert , Akanksha Singh, C Matthew Peterson, Enrique F Schisterman, Sunni L Mumford, Carrie J Nobles, Kaniz Rabeya, Allison M Ring, Lindsey M Russo, Karen C Schliep
Prior studies have observed impacts of air pollution on semen quality, but timing of exposure during developmental windows of spermatogenesis and impacts of low-to-moderate air pollution is less well understood. We examined the relation between air pollution and semen quality in the Folic Acid and Zinc Supplementation Trial (2013-2018), which enrolled male partners of couples seeking infertility treatment in the Salt Lake City, Utah region (n = 2015). Semen quality parameters were assessed at baseline, 2-, 4-, and 6-months follow-up. Measures of daily air pollutants at each participant's residence were abstracted from Community Multiscale Air Quality models (fine particulate matter: PM2.5, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, and ozone: O3), linked to participants' residential addresses, and averaged across the 74-day spermatogenesis window prior to the sample collection date for each study visit, and across four developmental windows of spermatogenesis (mitosis, meiosis I-II, spermiogenesis, and spermiation). Generalized linear mixed models considered four repeated semen sample measures per participant and adjusted for co-pollutants, age, season, and income. In multi-pollutant models, O3 during early-to-mid spermatogenesis (meiosis I+II and spermiogenesis) was related to lower percent normal morphology (% difference -6.73, 95 % CI -9.82, -3.54 and % difference -3.83, 95 % CI -7.51, 0.00, respectively). Additionally, PM2.5 and O3 during late spermatogenesis (spermiation) were associated with lower count and concentration, and PM2.5 with lower progressive motility. These findings suggest that exposure to low-to-moderate levels of air pollution may negatively impact semen quality and indicate that exposure to O3 during meiosis and spermiogenesis may particularly affect normal sperm morphological development.
ambient air pollution spermatogenesis semen quality, PM2.5 ozone sperm morphology motility concentration, developmental windows spermatogenesis pollution exposure, Russo Pilsner Mumford FAZST air pollution male fertility, environmental exposure male reproductive health Utah, low-to-moderate air pollution sperm parameters, meiosis spermiogenesis ozone morphology damage, fine particulate matter progressive motility decline, Folic Acid Zinc Supplementation Trial semen analysis, Schliep Peterson Schisterman infertility environment
PMID 40886599 40886599 DOI 10.1016/j.ecoenv.2025.118955 10.1016/j.ecoenv.2025.118955 Russo et al. 2025, Russo 2025
Cite this article
Russo, L. M., Pilsner, J. R., Canty, T. P., Perkins, N. J., Mendola, P., Schliep, K., Shaaban, M., Hemmert, R. B., Singh, A., Ring, A. M., Peterson, C. M., Rabeya, K., Schisterman, E. F., Mumford, S. L., & Nobles, C. (2025). Ambient air pollution during developmental windows of spermatogenesis and semen quality among an infertility treatment seeking population. Ecotoxicology and environmental safety, 303, 118955. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoenv.2025.118955
Russo LM, Pilsner JR, Canty TP, Perkins NJ, Mendola P, Schliep K, et al. Ambient air pollution during developmental windows of spermatogenesis and semen quality among an infertility treatment seeking population. Ecotoxicol Environ Saf. 2025;303:118955. doi:10.1016/j.ecoenv.2025.118955
Russo, L. M., et al. "Ambient air pollution during developmental windows of spermatogenesis and semen quality among an infertility treatment seeking population." Ecotoxicology and environmental safety, vol. 303, 2025, pp. 118955.
Understanding and mitigating health risks from poor indoor air quality, particularly fine particulate matter (PM2.5), is critical, yet conventional monitoring methods are costly and require skilled operators. Low-cost sensors (LCS) offer an accessible alternative; however, their accuracy under varying environmental conditions remains uncertain. This study evaluates how humidity, temperature, deployment duration, and concentration levels affect the calibration accuracy of low-cost PM2.5 monitors. Nineteen Plantower PMS 3003 sensors deployed in 11 Salt Lake County homes participating in the Green & Healthy Homes Initiative were calibrated before and after residential deployment using a TSI DustTrak aerosol monitor. Linear and Lasso regression analyses were performed to evaluate the influence of environmental factors on calibration parameters. Significant variability was observed in environmental conditions. Higher humidity (p = 0.0197) and longer deployment durations (p = 0.0178) significantly altered calibration slopes, while mean PM2.5 exposure (p = 0.0040) was strongly associated with intercept adjustments. These findings emphasize the need to account for environmental factors in calibration models to improve LCS accuracy and reliability. Environmental conditions significantly impact the performance of low-cost PM2.5 sensors. Modeling these impacts can streamline the calibration process, making it more efficient and cost-effective. Future research should focus on refining calibration models and exploring additional environmental factors to optimize LCS performance.
Microplastics (MPs) are becoming one of the most serious environmental threats worldwide. They have been shown to induce male reproductive toxicity in animal studies. However, evidence of their adverse effects on male reproductive health in human is still lacking. In this study, we evaluated the presence of MPs in human semen and explored their associations with semen quality. A total of 45 semen samples from men attending a fertility center were collected. MPs in the semen samples were analyzed by laser direct infrared (LD-IR) spectroscopy. MPs were found in 34 out of 45 semen samples, with an average abundance of 17.0 (42.0) particles/g. The size of MPs ranged from 20.3 μm to 189.7 μm and the majority (57.8%) were smaller than 50 μm. A total of 15 distinct MPs polymers were identified, and polyethylene (PET) accounted for 35.9% of the total amount of MPs, followed by butadiene rubber (BR, 26.4%) and chlorinated polyethylene (CPE, 12.2%). Analysis of the association of MP exposure with semen quality showed that participants exposed to PET MPs experienced a reduction in sperm progressive motility (20.6% ± 12.8% vs. 34.9% ± 15.9%, p = 0.056). However, no significant association was found between MP exposure and sperm concentration or total sperm count. Our findings confirmed the presence of MPs in human semen and suggested that MP exposure might have adverse impacts on male reproductive health. However, further large-scale studies are needed to confirm these findings.
Palmore M et al., 2025·Environ Epigenet·
Open Access
Prenatal exposure to air pollution is an important risk factor for child health outcomes, including asthma. Identification of DNA methylation changes associated with air pollutant exposure can provide new intervention targets to improve children's health. The aim of this study is to test the association between prenatal air pollutant exposure and DNA methylation in developmental and asthma-/allergy-relevant biospecimens (placenta, buccal, cord blood, nasal mucosa, and lavage). A subset of 2294 biospecimens collected from 1906 child participants enrolled in the Environmental Influences on Child Health Outcomes program with prenatal air pollutant and high-quality Illumina Asthma&Allergy DNA methylation array measures (n = 37 197 probes) were included. Prenatal ozone, nitrogen dioxide, and fine particulate matter were derived using residential history during pregnancy and spatiotemporal models. For each pollutant, biospecimen type, and prenatal exposure window, we estimated the effects of air pollution on gene DNA methylation levels. We compared results across pollutants, biospecimen types, and trimesters and tested for critical months of exposure using distributed lag models. DNA methylation levels at 154 out of 4746 tested genes were associated with air pollution; over 95% were exposure window, pollutant, and biospecimen-type specific. The fewest gene associations were detected in trimester 2, relative to other exposure windows. A variety of trends in methylation patterns were observed in response to lagged monthly pollution levels. Child DNA methylation changes at specific respiratoryand immune-relevant genes are associated with prenatal air pollutant exposures. Future studies should examine the relationship between these pollution-sensitive genes and child health.