Seminal characteristics following exposure to pesticides among agricultural workers

Background and objectives Few pesticides are known to damage human testicular function, but animal data and epidemiologie studies have indicated male reproductive toxicity on the part of several other compounds (1, 2). As part of the European Asclepios project on occupational hazards to male reproductive function we conducted an explorative study among agricultural workers in order to examine whether exposure to pesticides during a spraying season affects seminal characteristics. We analyzed the within-person changes in semen quality and reproductive hormones across a spraying season in groups of agricultural workers using and not using pesticides.