Background: Human exposure to phenols, including bisphenol A and parabens, is widespread. Evidence suggests that paternal exposure to environmental chemicals may adversely affect reproductive outcomes.
Objectives: We evaluated associations of paternal phenol urinary concentrations with fertilization rate, embryo quality, implantation, and live birth.
Methods: Male–female couples who underwent in vitro fertilization (IVF) and/or intrauterine insemination (IUI) cycles in a prospective study of environmental determinants of fertility and pregnancy outcomes were included. The geometric mean of males’ specific gravity–adjusted urinary phenol concentrations measured before females’ cycle was quantified. Associations between male urinary phenol concentrations and fertilization rate, embryo quality, implantation, and live birth were investigated using generalized linear mixed models to account for multiple cycles per couple.
Results: Couples (n = 218) underwent 195 IUI and 211 IVF cycles. Paternal phenol concentrations were not associated with fertilization or live birth following IVF. In adjusted models, compared with the lowest quartile of methyl paraben, paternal concentrations in the second quartile were associated with decreased odds of live birth following IUI (adjusted odds ratio = 0.19; 95% CI: 0.04, 0.82).
Conclusions: To our knowledge, these are some of the first data on the association of paternal urinary phenol concentrations with reproduction and pregnancy outcomes. Although these results do not preclude possible adverse effects of paternal paraben exposures on such outcomes, given the modest sample size, further understanding could result from confirmation using a larger and more diverse population.
1Department of Epidemiology, and 2Department of Biostatistics, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts, USA; 3Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA; 4Channing Division of Network Medicine, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA; 5Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Division of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, USA; 6National Center for Environmental Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, USA; 7Department of Environmental Health, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
Recommended Citation:
Laura E. Dodge,1 Paige L. Williams,1,et al. Paternal Urinary Concentrations of Parabens and Other Phenols in Relation to Reproductive Outcomes among Couples from a Fertility Clinic[J]. Environmental Health Perspectives,2015-01-01,Volume 123(Issue 7):665