Effects of Pesticides on Male Reproductive Functions

Exposure to pesticides could be one of the contributing causeto the falling sperm counts and rising levels of male infertility.adverse effects of pesticides in the environment first receivedwidespread attention in the 1960s. however, only recently ithas been postulated that long term, low exposure of thesechemicals are increasingly linked to human health effects suchas immuno-suppression, endocrine disruption, reproductiveabnormalities and cancer. this article critically reviewed theepidemiological studies of reproductive toxicity of differentpesticides in males. according to previous studies it is shownthat exposure to pesticides was significantly associated withsperm levels well below the limit for male fertility. no largescalestudies assessing pesticide exposure and its relationshipto infertility have been done. to overcome the difficulties ininterpretation and to reach strong conclusions, future studies onhuman male reproductive effects of different types of pesticidesshould consider several methodological problems. so, weconclude integrated studies considering many factors arewarranted to draw definite conclusion and also in the view ofadverse health effects observed to some extent in workers withfew pesticides, it is necessary now to find out ecologicallysound alternatives to pesticides and also to educate theworkers/farmers about the safe use of these pesticides toreduce reproductive health risk associated with exposure.