Nitrate in Maternal Drinking Water during Pregnancy and Measures of Male Fecundity in Adult Sons

Pernille Jul Clemmensen (), Nis Brix, Jörg Schullehner, Anne Gaml-Sørensen, Gunnar Toft, Sandra Søgaard Tøttenborg, Ninna Hinchely Ebdrup, Karin Sørig Hougaard, Birgitte Hansen, Torben Sigsgaard, Henrik Albert Kolstad, Jens Peter Ellekilde Bonde and Cecilia Høst Ramlau-Hansen
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Pernille Jul Clemmensen: Department of Public Health, Aarhus University, 8000 Aarhus, Denmark
Nis Brix: Department of Public Health, Aarhus University, 8000 Aarhus, Denmark
Jörg Schullehner: Department of Public Health, Aarhus University, 8000 Aarhus, Denmark
Anne Gaml-Sørensen: Department of Public Health, Aarhus University, 8000 Aarhus, Denmark
Gunnar Toft: Steno Diabetes Center Aarhus, Aarhus University Hospital, 8200 Aarhus, Denmark
Sandra Søgaard Tøttenborg: Department of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Copenhagen University Hospital—Bispebjerg and Frederiksberg Hospital, 2400 Copenhagen, Denmark
Ninna Hinchely Ebdrup: Fertility Clinic, The Regional Hospital in Horsens, 8700 Horsens, Denmark
Karin Sørig Hougaard: Department of Public Health, University of Copenhagen, 1014 Copenhagen, Denmark
Birgitte Hansen: Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland, 8000 Aarhus, Denmark
Torben Sigsgaard: Department of Public Health, Aarhus University, 8000 Aarhus, Denmark
Henrik Albert Kolstad: Department of Occupational Medicine, Aarhus University Hospital, 8200 Aarhus, Denmark
Jens Peter Ellekilde Bonde: Department of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Copenhagen University Hospital—Bispebjerg and Frederiksberg Hospital, 2400 Copenhagen, Denmark
Cecilia Høst Ramlau-Hansen: Department of Public Health, Aarhus University, 8000 Aarhus, Denmark

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 21, 1-16

Abstract: Animal studies indicate deleterious effects of nitrate exposure on fecundity, but effects in humans are unknown, both for the prenatal and postnatal periods. We aimed to investigate if exposure to nitrate in maternal drinking water during the sensitive period of fetal life is associated with measures of fecundity in the adult sons. In a sub-analysis, the potential effects of nitrate exposure in adulthood were investigated. This cohort included 985 young adult men enrolled in The Fetal Programming of Semen Quality Cohort (FEPOS). Semen characteristics, testes volume and reproductive hormones were analyzed in relation to nitrate concentration in maternal drinking water, using a negative binomial regression model. The nitrate concentration in drinking water was obtained from monitoring data from Danish waterworks that were linked with the mothers’ residential address during pregnancy. The median nitrate concentration in maternal drinking water was 2 mg/L. At these low exposure levels, which are far below the World Health Organization’s (WHO) guideline value of 50 mg/L, we did not find indications of harmful effects of nitrate on the investigated measures of male fecundity.

Keywords: prenatal exposure; semen quality; drinking water; nitrate; semen analysis; reproduction (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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