Pmn-18: The Effect of Ambient Air Pollution on Infertility

Development disorders may be arisen from the unavoidable maternal exposure to particulate air pollution during the prenatal life that can be affected not only periconceptional period but also postnatal life. A kind of chemical material categorized as air pollutants are present in the urine, blood and semen of exposed men and may decline sperm count and affect sperm quality. Environment toxic can alter fertility on different pathways in cellular processes including mitotic interference, altered energy sources, enzyme inhibition, altered cell signaling, mutation, affect in gene expression and alterations in immune functioning and programmed cell death. There is some evidence for an association between brief exposure to high levels of environmental contaminants during the prenatal life and early pregnancy loss that showed increase in the risk of miscarriage. Air pollution has been associated with fertility impairment in women, possibly due to a number of factors involved in female reproductive function. Exposed to air pollution in women result to early pregnancy loss and it could be related to changes in the maternal uterine vascular compartment or intrauterine environment prior to pregnancy, which can be due to propose compromised delivery of maternal blood to the placenta and an increase in the resistance to its flow. The sperm DNA damage that may result from the exposure to intermittent air pollution could be also linked to the increased rate of adverse pregnancy. Male idiopathic infertility may be due to exposure to environmental toxicants that alter the sex hormones, spermatogenic function or sperm maturation. More recently, the effects of exposure to particulate air pollution on reproductive and pregnancy outcome have garnered increased interest. However, a limited number of studies have been conducted to examine the association between male reproductive outcomes and ambient air pollution, specifically semen quality, which includes sperm concentration, sperm count along with morphological abnormalities. Finally, some studies confirmed the increased risk of early pregnancy loss previously and adverse pregnancy observed in experimental studies in women exposed to air pollution. In sum of, exposure to particular air pollution has been associated with a variety of health effects, ranging from subclinical outcomes to death.