Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2023 Dec;120(6):1138-1149.
doi: 10.1016/j.fertnstert.2023.10.008. Epub 2023 Oct 11.

Endocrine-disrupting chemicals and male reproductive health

Lidia Mínguez-Alarcón  1 , Audrey J Gaskins  2 , John D Meeker  3 , Joseph M Braun  4 , Jorge E Chavarro  5
Affiliations
Review

Endocrine-disrupting chemicals and male reproductive health

Lidia Mínguez-Alarcón et al. Fertil Steril. 2023 Dec.

Abstract

Modifiable factors, such as environmental exposures, can impact human fertility. The objective of this review is to summarize the potential effects of exposure to important endocrine-disrupting chemicals on male reproductive health. Most experimental and animal data demonstrate strong evidence for the negative effects of exposure to phenols, phthalates, pesticides, and perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances on male reproductive health. Although evidence of negative associations in humans was overall strong for phthalates and pesticides, limited and inconclusive relationships were found for the other examined chemical biomarkers. Reasons for the discrepancies in results include but are not limited to, differences in study populations, exposure concentrations, number of samples collected, sample sizes, study design, and residual confounding. Additional studies are needed, particularly for newer phenols and perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, given the scarce literature on the topic and increasing exposures over time.

Keywords: endocrine disruptors; male fertility; spermatogenesis; testicular function.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of interests L.M.A. has nothing to disclose. A.J.G. has nothing to disclose. J.D.M. has nothing to disclose. J.M.B. was financially compensated for serving as an expert witness for plaintiffs in litigation related to tobacco smoke exposures and received an honorarium for serving on an advisory board for Quest Diagnostics. J.M.B.’s institution was financially compensated for his services as an expert witness for plaintiffs in litigation related to PFAS-contaminated drinking water; these funds were not paid to JMB directly. J.E.C. has nothing to disclose.

References

    1. Inhorn MC, Patrizio P. Infertility around the globe: new thinking on gender, reproductive technologies and global movements in the 21st century. Human reproduction update 2015;21:411–26. - PubMed
    1. Mascarenhas MN, Flaxman SR, Boerma T, Vanderpoel S, Stevens GA. National, regional, and global trends in infertility prevalence since 1990: a systematic analysis of 277 health surveys. PLoS medicine 2012;9:e1001356. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Legare C, Droit A, Fournier F, Bourassa S, Force A, Cloutier F et al. Investigation of male infertility using quantitative comparative proteomics. Journal of proteome research 2014;13:5403–14. - PubMed
    1. Eisenberg ML, Li S, Behr B, Cullen MR, Galusha D, Lamb DJ et al. Semen quality, infertility and mortality in the USA. Human reproduction (Oxford, England) 2014;29:1567–74. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Choy JT, Eisenberg ML. Male infertility as a window to health. Fertility and sterility 2018;110:810–4. - PubMed

Publication types