Pesticides in fruit and vegetables may lead to lower sperm counts of poorer quality, warn researchers.
Men who ate the most fruit and vegetables with high levels of pesticide residue had half the sperm count of men consuming the least.
A new US study also shows a drop of one-third in normally-formed sperm among men consuming most pesticide residue.
But the total amount of fruit and vegetables eaten was not linked to changes in measurements of semen quality in the group overall.
Pesticides in fruit and vegetables may lead to lower sperm counts of poorer quality, warn researchers (file picture)
Jorge Chavarro, assistant professor of nutrition and epidemiology at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in Boston, said ‘These findings should not discourage the consumption of fruit and vegetables in general.
‘In fact, we found that total intake of fruit and vegetables was completely unrelated to semen quality.
‘This suggests that implementing strategies specifically targeted at avoiding pesticide residues, such as consuming organically-grown produce or avoiding produce known to have large amounts of residues, may be the way to go.’
Previous studies have shown occupational exposure to pesticides might affect semen quality.
Estimates suggest around 30 per cent of men in couples seeking IVF treatment are subfertile, and two per cent are ‘totally’ infertile, while some studies show dramatic falls in average sperm counts.
Under NHS guidelines, GPs are supposed to warn men diagnosed with infertility of the dangers of alcohol, tobacco and recreational drugs.
Infertile men are also urged to avoid being overweight and not to wear tight underwear to improve sperm quality.
In the latest study researchers analysed 338 semen samples from 155 men attending a fertility centre between 2007-2012.
Men who ate the most fruit and vegetables with high levels of pesticide residue had half the sperm count of men consuming the least (pesticide spraying pictured)
The men’s diet was assessed using a food frequency questionnaire, and they were asked how often they consumed how many portions of fruit and vegetables.
The fruit and vegetables were classified as high, moderate or low in pesticide residues based on data from the annual United States Department of Agriculture Pesticide Data Program.
Fruit or vegetables low in pesticide residues included peas, beans, grapefruit and onions. Those with high residues included peppers, spinach, strawberries, apples and pears.
The researchers divided the men into four groups, ranging from those who ate the greatest amount of fruit and vegetables high in pesticides residues (1.5 servings or more a day) to those who ate the least amount (less than half a serving).
Men with the highest intake of pesticide-heavy fruit and vegetables had an average total sperm count of 86million sperm compared to men eating least, who had an average of 171million sperm – a 49 per cent reduction.
The amount of normally formed sperm was an average of 7.5 per cent in men with the lowest intake and 5.1 per cent in the men with the highest intake – a drop of 32 per cent.
Strawberries were among the fruit and vegetables found to have with high residues of pesticides, as well as peppers, spinach, apples and pears
The study is published online today in the Human Reproduction journal.
The researchers write: ‘To our knowledge, this is the first report on the consumption of fruits and vegetables with high levels of pesticide residue in relation to semen quality.
‘These findings suggest that exposure to pesticides used in agricultural production through diet may be sufficient to affect spermatogenesis in humans.’
Professor Allan Pacey, Professor of Andrology at the University of Sheffield, said ‘This is a very interesting paper that raises the possibility that pesticide residues in our food may be a contributory factor in male infertility, at least in some men.
‘The idea has been raised before, but to my knowledge this is the first paper that has investigated this question in a systematic way.’
However, he said the study had limitations and shouldn’t discourage men from eating their daily quota of fresh fruit and vegetables.
‘There is also no evidence at present that switching to organic fruit and vegetables will improve semen quality, although it will obviously do no harm.
‘But I hope that this paper will encourage other studies to take place in this area, so that we might be able to answer the question once and for all,’ he added.
Total consumption of fruit and vegetables was not linked to semen quality.
The link was with the greatest intake of the type of fruit and vegetables ranked as having ‘high’ residues of pesticides applied during the growing season to stave off insects and fungal attacks.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3018861/Pesticide-fruit-veg-harm-man-s-fertility-Men-eat-high-levels-half-sperm-count-ate-least.html#ixzz3Vymaw5dd
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