Table 2. Endocrine disrupting chemicals and their impact on the male reproductive system.
| EDCs | Reference | Population | Effects | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Anogenital distance | Cancers (prostate, testicular, etc.) | Testes | Hypospadias | Cryptorchidism | Semen quality | |||
| BPA | (32) | Mouse spermatocyte-derived GC2 cells from American tissue culture collection and 32 adult male Kunming mice | – | – | Shrinkage and vacuolation of seminiferous tubules | – | – | Reduction in the number of spermatogenic cells and sperm |
| BPA | (3) | Male offspring (70 days of age) of 60 Calomys laucha mice | No effect | – | Induced testicular spermatogenic cellular apoptosis | – | – | Decreased sperm concentration |
| BPA | (46) | 79 human newborns recruited between 2000 and 2002 | – | – | – | – | – | Reduction of normal sperm morphology, sperm motility, and sperm membrane integrity |
| BPA | (47) | 153 boys | Significant decrease in AGD | – | – | Increased incidence of hypospadias | Increased incidence of cryptorchidism | – |
| BPA | (21) | 60 patients from the urologic clinic at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Dioxins | (48) | 82 male field mice | – | Increased incidence of prostate cancer (especially significant in younger patients <65) | – | – | – | Could possibly reduce sperm motility |
| Decreased prostate-specific antigen (PSA) | ||||||||
| Dioxins | (9) | 251 men living in Besancon, France, between 2001 and 2007 | – | – | – | – | – | Could possibly decrease the number of active spermatozoa (decreased motility) |
| Dioxins | (49) | 39 sons born between 1977 and 1984 to mother exposed to dioxin after the accident in Seveso, Italy (1976); 58 sons born to mothers exposed to only background dioxin | – | – | – | – | – | Could possibly negatively impact sperm morphology |
| Dioxins | (50) | 135 males exposed to 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) at three age groups; 184 healthy male comparisons | – | – | Inhibits Sertoli cell proliferation in the testes | – | – | Decreased sperm concentration, progressive motility, and total motile count |
| PCB | (50) | A review of 11 previous studies on PCB | – | – | No effect on testosterone concentration | – | – | Reduced sperm count, progressive motility, and total number of motile sperm |
| PCB | (51) | Four Simmental bulls (aged 2–4) in Turkey | – | – | Associated with reduced testosterone levels | – | – | Could possibly reduce sperm motility |
| PFOS | (2) | Male Sprague Dawley rats | – | – | Exposure associated with reduced testicular weight | – | – | Decreased total motility and progressive motility |
| PFOS and PFOA | (52) | 105 Danish from general population (median age =19 years) | – | – | Impaired fetal Leydig cell (FLC) function | – | – | – |
| Reduced FLC number | ||||||||
| Decreased T production | ||||||||
| PFOS | (53) | 645 Danish boys (1980–1996) | – | – | – | – | – | Reduced normal sperm count in ejaculate (6.2 million in men with high PFOS-PFOA as compared to low PFOS-PFOA at 15.5 million) |
| Significant decrease in normal sperm morphology | ||||||||
| Nonsignificant decrease in sperm concentration, total sperm count, and sperm motility | ||||||||
| PFOA | (54) | 169 human males (ages 19–21 years) | – | – | Increased testosterone production | No association | No association | – |
| PFOA and PFOS | (55) | Males in Italy | – | – | Higher levels of LH and FSH | – | – | Lower sperm concentration, total sperm count, |
| TCS | (56) | Sea urchin (Strongylocentrotus nudus) | – | – | – | – | – | Decreased sperm concentration, progressive motility, and normal morphology |
| TCS | (57) | LNCaP, PC-3, and DU145 prostate cancer cell lines | – | – | – | – | – | Decreased sperm viability |
| TCS | (4) | Human children (3 months of age) | Reduced AGD | Promotion of prostate cancer tumor growth | – | – | – | – |
| TCS | (58) | 471 men in a male reproductive health clinic in China | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Vinclozolin | (59) | Male rats | – | – | – | – | – | Decrease in progressive motility, sperm concentration, sperm count, sperm density, and percentage of sperm with normal morphology |
| Vinclozolin | (18) | Male rats | Significantly decreased AGD | – | – | – | Significantly increased incidence of cryptorchidism, unilaterally and bilaterally undescended testes | – |
| DBP/MBP | (60) | Fetal testis explants from rats (gestation day =19.5) | – | Prostate inflammation | – | – | – | Reduction in elongated spermatid number |
| DEHP | (29) | Male mice | – | – | Major decrease in levels of intratesticular testosterone | – | – | – |
| Increased Leydig cell aggregation (LCA) | ||||||||
| MEHP | (61) | 21-day-old mice | – | – | Disruption of testicular germ cell association and spermatogonial stem cell function | – | – | Decreased sperm count, motility |
| DEHP DINP |
(27) | Male Rats | – | – | Increased spermatogenic cells apoptosis | – | – | Decreased sperm count |
| DBP | (62) | 13 rats | – | – | Germ cell apoptosis in testes | – | – | – |
| Finasteride | (63) | Male rats | – | – | Decreased T leads to impaired spermatogenesis | – | – | – |
| BBzp DBP DEHP |
(64) | Rodent species | Decreased AGD | – | – | Higher occurrence of hypospadias | Ectopic testes at high dose | – |
| DDE DDT DEHP |
(65) | Rats and alligators | – | – | Decreased testes weight | Malformations of the epididymis and vas deferens | Malformations of the epididymis and vas deferens | Reduced Sperm production |
| DBP DEP DPP DMIP |
(66) | Male mice | – | – | – | Hinders reproductive tract development | DDE and DTT caused cryptorchidism in alligators | Declined Semen quality and fertility |
| MBP | (19) | Non-human primate, marmoset | – | – | Inhibits fetal testicular testosterone production | Possible effects | Possible effects | Decreased T production so possibly affected semen parameters |
| MBP MiBP |
(67) | 134 boys, 2–36 months of age | Decreased AGD (18% shorter than expected) | – | Testicular morphology was not affected | – | – | Not affected |
| Review of 61 articles | (68) | 14,979 men from 1938–1991 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Phthalates in general along with other EDC’s like BPA | (69) | Extensive review article (human) | – | – | – | – | – | Decline in sperm density and volume |
AGD, anogenital distance; PCB, polychlorinated biphenyl; PFOS, perfluorooctane sulfonate; PFOA, perfluorooctanoic acid; LH, luteinizing hormone; FSH, follicle-stimulating hormone; DDE, dichlorodiphenylethane; DBP, di(n-butyl) phthalate; MBP, mono(n-butyl) phthalate; MiBP, mono-isobutyl phthalate; DEHP, di-(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate; MEHP, mono-(2-ethyl-hexyl) phthalate; DINP, diisononyl phthalate; DDT, dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane; DEP, diethyl phthalate; DPP, diphenyl phthalate; DMIP, dimethyl isophthalate; BPA, bisphenol A; EDC, endocrine disrupting chemical; DTT, dithiothreitol; TCS, trichlorosilane; BBzp, benzyl butyl phthalate.