Table 3. The following are established or highly suspect relationships between male reproductive abnormalities and selected environmental/occupational agents or processes.1
Agent Oligospermia Teratospermia Asthenospermia Abnormal hormone or sex function Other
Alcohol azoospermia       Testicular atrophy
Boron X X x    
Cadmium         ? Fertility
Carbon disulfide X X x x  
Carbaryl (Sevin)   X      
Chlordecone2 X X x    
Dibromochloropropane2 azoospermia     x  
2,4-Dichlorophenoxy-acetic acid (2,4-D) X X x    
DDT Dichlorodiphenyl-trichloroethane2         Found in the semen of infertile men
Estrogens X        
Ethylene dibromide2 X X x    
Ethylene glycol ethers (e.g., 2-ethoxyethanol) X X      
Heat, excessive X   x    
Lead X X x x  
Manganese          
Mercury, inorganic       x  
Perchlorethylene     x    
Radiation, ionizing X X x x  
Radiation, microwave X   x    
Toluene diamine and dinitrotoluene X        
Vinyl chloride       x  
Process
Nuclear power plant clean-up (Chernobyl) X X x x  
Oral contraceptive manufacturing       x  
Plastic production (styrene and acetone)   X      
Welding   X x    
1Compiled from multiple sources, including NIOSH, CDC: National Occupational Research Agenda: Fertility and pregnancy abnormalities: www2.cdc.gov/nora/, and Frazier L: Reproductive problems, prim care 2000;27(4):1.
2Use banned in the United States.



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Postgraduate Diploma in Occupational Health (DOH) - Modules 3: Occupational Medicine & Toxicology (Basic) by Profs Mohamed Jeebhay and Rodney Ehrlich, Health Sciences UCT is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.5 South Africa License. Major contributors: Mohamed Jeebhay, Rodney Ehrlich, Jonny Myers, Leslie London, Sophie Kisting, Rajen Naidoo, Saloshni Naidoo. Source available from here. For any updates to the material, or more permissions beyond the scope of this license, please email healthoer@uct.ac.za or visit www.healthedu.uct.ac.za. Last updated Jan 2007.
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