Over a period of 17 years, 360 young healthy men presented themselves
as candidate donors for the sperm bank of the University Hospital of G
hent. Semen characteristics of these men were assessed using unaltered
methods, and analysis was performed on the first sample delivered bef
ore any donor selection was performed. Sperm motility and morphology,
but not the total sperm count per ejaculate, exhibited a highly signif
icant decrease. Over 40% of candidate donors since 1990 exhibited subn
ormal sperm characteristics, as against only 5% of the group investiga
ted before 1980.