Journal of Andrology, Vol. 27, No. 1, January/February 2006
Copyright © American Society of Andrology
DOI: 10.2164/jandrol.05121

Reduced Seminal Parameters Associated With Environmental DDT Exposure and p,p’-DDE 
Concentrations in Men in Chiapas, Mexico: A Cross-Sectional Study

CHRISTIAAN DE JAGER*,, PAULINA FARIAS, ALBINO BARRAZA-VILLARREAL, MAURICIO HERNANDEZ AVILA, PIERRE AYOTTE, ERIC DEWAILLY, CHRISTIAN DOMBROWSKI||, FRANÇOIS ROUSSEAU||, VICENTE DIAZ SANCHEZ¶ AND JANICE L. BAILEY* 

From the * Centre de Recherche en Biologie de la Reproduction, Département des Sciences Animales, Université Laval, Québec City, Québec, Canada;  Environmental Health, School of Health Systems & Public Health, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa;  Centro de Investigación en Salud Poblacional, Instituto Nacional de Salud Pública, Cuernavaca Morelos, México;  Unité de Recherche en Santé Publique, Centre de Recherche du Centre Hospitalier de l’Université Laval-Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Québec, Université Laval et Direction de la Toxicologie Humaine-Institut de la Recherche en Santé Publique du Québec, Sainte Foy, Québec, Canada; || Unité de Recherche en Génétique Humaine et Moléculaire, Services de Biochimie Médicale et de Génétique de Laboratoire, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Québec, Pavillon St-François d’Assise, Québec, City, Québec, Canada; and the ¶ Departmento de Biología de la Reproducción, Instituto Nacional de Nutrición, México DF, México.

Correspondence to: Dr Janice L. Bailey, Centre de Recherche en Biologie de la Reproduction, Département des Sciences Animales, Université Laval, Québec City, Québec, Canada, G1K 7P4 (e-mail: janice.bailey@crbr.ulaval.ca ). 

Abstract

In response to mounting concerns about the endocrine-disrupting influence of environmental chemicals on human health, this epidemiological study was initiated to test the hypothesis that nonoccupational exposure to the estrogenic pesticide 1,1,1-trichloro-2,2-bis(chlorodiphenyl)ethane (DDT) affects male reproductive parameters. One hundred and sixteen men aged 27 years (SD = 8.2) living in malaria endemic-areas in Chiapas (Mexico), where DDT was sprayed until 2000, participated in a cross-sectional study. Semen analyses were conducted according to World Health Organization methods and a quality control program was followed. DDT exposure was defined as the level of blood plasma p,p’-dichlorodiphenyl dichloroethylene (DDE), the major metabolite of DDT. The p,p’-DDE concentration adjusted for total lipids was 100 times higher than that reported for nonexposed populations at 45 plus or minus 32 µg/g (mean ± SD). Crude regression analysis showed that several sperm motion parameters, including the percentage of motile sperm, decreased with higher p,p’-DDE concentrations (ß = -8.38; P = .05 for squared motility), and the percentage of sperm with morphological tail defects increased with higher plasma p,p’-DDE concentration (ß = 0.003; P = .017). Insufficient sperm chromatin condensation was observed in 46.6% of participants, and the most severe category of incomplete DNA condensation was also positively correlated with p,p’-DDE concentration (r = .223; P = .044). Therefore, nonoccupational exposure to DDT, as assessed by plasma p,p’-DDE concentrations, is associated with poorer semen parameters in men, indicating adverse effects on testicular function and/or the regulation of reproductive hormones. Previously, a causal role of environmental toxicants in human male infertility has been lacking because observed effects have been the result of unusually high exposures, either occupationally or as a result of industrial accidents, resulting in unprecedented controversy (reviewed by Cheek & McLachlan, Environmental hormones and the male reproductive system. J Androl. 1998;19:5). This is the first epidemiological study demonstrating effects after nonoccupational exposures to DDT. Based on these findings, the effect of DDT on male reproductive health should not be ignored.