French Find Radical Drop in Farmers' Sperm Count

THE WORLD | 27/02/2014 at 11:22 • Updated 2/27/2014 

| By Paul Benkimoun
Almost no French region is immune: sperm quality declines. A sharp decline in sperm concentration - almost a third over a period of sixteen years - had already been recognized at national level. This time the phenomenon has been analyzed at the regional level by a joint team of researchers from the Institute of Health Surveillance (VS ) and the National Institute of Health and Medical Research ( Inserm), responsible for database" FIVNAT." 

Put online Monday, February 24 on the website of the journal Reproduction, their study shows that the trend so widespread, but highlights disparities. Aquitaine and Midi-Pyrénées have a greater than average decline.

For the authors, these results support the hypothesis of an effect of environmental exposure to endocrine disruptors. These two regions have indeed a strong agricultural and the population is particularly vulnerable to pesticides.

In December 2012, Dr. Joëlle Le Moal InVS and his colleagues published in Human Reproduction the results of a large study involving 26,000 men. They were part of couples who participated in a medically assisted reproduction program ( AMP ) in 126 major metropolitan centers in France between 1 January 1989 and 31 December 2005.

The advantage of this choice was available for each participant. Two semen analyzes, which included information on sperm concentration sperm on their morphology (normal or not) and their motility or their ability to move. Also they included men whose partner was permanently sterile. The researchers justify this criterion that the selected participants had no a priori reason to have a different quality of semen from that of the general male population.

The study showed "significant and continuous reduction in sperm concentration up to 32.2% over the study period." For a man of 35 years, the average concentration increased from 73.6 million sperm per milliliter (ml) of semen 1989-49900000 / ml in 2005. Notably, the authors verified a steady decline by an average of 1.9% per year.

NO INFLUENCE OF GENETIC FACTORSSimilarly, the percentage of spermatozoa with normal morphology was increased from 60.9 % in 1985 to 39.2% in 2005. Although these data were still far from the levels where you start talking about infertility (below 20 million / ml ), they nevertheless constituted marker of unfavorable. 

In the new study, " we took exactly the same sample and compared the dynamics of trends in 21 regions of metropolitan France ," says Dr. Le Moal. The influence of genetic factors can not play strongly over sixteen years, says the researcher. The explanation is therefore more likely to environmental or behavioral factors.

"The ubiquitous nature of the decline is consistent with the effect of environmental factors at work throughout the country," said Dr. Le Moal. However, some areas stand out. Aquitaine has a more pronounced decrease in sperm concentration linear trend. Midi-Pyrénées, which had the lowest average value in 1989, the decline continued and the region still was at last in 2005.

POSITIVE TREND IN Franche-Comté AND BRITAINThese two regions also showed higher that the whole territory to a decrease in the percentage of morphologically normal sperm trend. Franche-Comté and the UK have experienced the contrary a positive development.

The populations of the two regions where the study highlights significant adverse developments do not have physical characteristics, including their body mass index. These territories are not part of those where rates of tobacco and alcohol are highest. The authors seek more explanation on the side of environmental factors.

As Aquitaine Midi-Pyrénées are highly agricultural: Aquitaine is the first French region for employment in this sector and the second for the number of farms, Midi-Pyrénées is the first region to the number of farms and the second for acreage, say the study authors.

They have a large population may be exposed to products such as pesticides, which can disrupt hormonal functioning . Their viticultural activities" are those where more pesticides in proportion to the agricultural area is used," says Joëlle Le Moal."It is very important to monitor the quality of sperm, because it is a sensitive biomarker for environmental exposures and correlated with life expectancy," insists Dr. Le Moal. This is the purpose of human reproductive health and general network environment (whose acronym in English is Hurgent ), launched in December 2013 by InVS at European level.