Fruit, vegetable pesticide exposure may impair sperm during IVF cycles

Key takeaways:

• Exposure to fruit and vegetable pesticide residue in men was tied to lower fertilization rates during IVF cycles.
• Previous data suggest pesticide exposure also effects semen quality.

DENVER — High intake of pesticide residue from fruits and vegetables for male partners was tied to lower fertilization rates for couples undergoing fertility treatment, according to findings presented at the ASRM Scientific Congress & Expo.

“There are actually no specific [dietary] guidelines for [fruits and vegetables] to recommend for couples undergoing fertility treatment or couples trying to conceive specifically,” Jorge E. Chavarro, MD, ScD, professor of nutrition and epidemiology at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, said during the presentation. “But we do have very robust dietary guidance for the general population for maintaining health in general and for specific factors.”

Chavarro and colleagues recruited 244 men (mean age, 37 years) and their female partners (mean age, 35 years) from the EARTH prospective cohort study who underwent 437 assisted reproductive technology cycles from 2004 to 2019. Researchers combined U.S. Department of Agriculture data and self-reported food intake data to characterize pesticide residue exposure from fruits and vegetables. Primary outcome was fertilization rate; secondary outcome was probability of low fertilization cycles.

Researchers observed associations between high intake of high pesticide residue from fruits and vegetables for male partners and low fertilization rates (P = .04), whereas fertilization rates were higher for couples in which male partners had a low intake of high pesticide residue from fruits and vegetables (P = .02).

In addition, the probability of low fertilization cycles was low among couples in which the male partner had a low intake of high pesticide residue from fruits and vegetables (P = .001). However, low fertilization cycles were more likely among couples in which the male partner had a high intake of high pesticide residue from fruits and vegetables (P = .04).

“Our data suggest that exposure to pesticide residue through diet may have this important impact on reproductive function beyond what we have previously described with effects on semen quality,” Chavarro said. “This suggests that exposure to pesticides at levels that are assumed safe for human consumption by U.S. regulatory agencies may impair the ability of the sperm to fertilize oocytes.”