FRIDAY, Sept. 6, 2024 (HealthDay News) -- Air pollution is associated with a higher risk for an infertility diagnosis in men, while road traffic noise pollution is associated with a higher risk for an infertility diagnosis in women aged 35 years and older, according to a study published online Sept. 4 in The BMJ.
Mette Sørensen, Ph.D., from the Danish Cancer Institute in Copenhagen, and colleagues investigated associations between long-term residential exposure to road traffic noise and particulate matter <2.5 µm (PM2.5) and infertility. The analysis included 526,056 men and 377,850 women (aged 30 to 45 years), with fewer than two children, cohabiting or married, and residing in Denmark between 2000 and 2017.
The researchers found that mean exposure to PM2.5 over five years was strongly associated with the risk for infertility in men (hazard ratios, 1.24 among men aged 30 to 36.9 years and 1.24 among men aged 37 to 45 years for each interquartile [2.9 µg/m3] higher PM2.5 after adjustment for sociodemographic variables and road traffic noise). There was no association seen between PM2.5 and infertility in women. However, road traffic noise was associated with a higher risk for infertility among women (hazard ratio, 1.14 for women aged 35 to 45 years for each interquartile [10.2 dB] higher five-year mean exposure). Among younger women (ages 30 to 34.9 years), noise was not associated with infertility. Road traffic noise was associated with a higher risk for infertility only in men ages 37 to 45 years (hazard ratio, 1.06).
"If these results are confirmed in future studies, higher fertility could be added to the list of health benefits from regulating noise and air pollution," the authors write.
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