A new review of 25 studies, conducted by a research team from Italy and the US, suggests that exposure to insecticides has been associated with lower sperm concentration in adult men across the globe. The researchers note that people are primarily exposed to insecticides through the consumption of contaminated food and water.
For their study, the team analyzed data from 1,774 adult men residing in four continents (Asia, North America, South America, and Europe) across 21 study populations who were exposed to such insecticides as organophosphates and N-methyl carbamates.
Lead author of the study, Lauren Ellis, a population health scientist at Northeastern University in Boston, US, says: “Understanding how insecticides affect sperm concentration in humans is critical given their ubiquity in the environment and documented reproductive hazards. Insecticides are a concern for public health.”