Objective: To determine whether cotinine levels provide stronger evide
nce for an association between smoking and semen quality than the numb
er of cigarettes smoked per day or years smoked controlling for potent
ial confounders and effect modifiers. Design: Cross-sectional study. S
etting: Male volunteers at the Reproductive Endocrinology-Fertility La
boratory. Participants: Eighty-eight men (ages 18 to 35 years) provide
d a semen, urine, and blood specimen and completed a self-administered
questionnaire concerning smoking and demographic information as well
as caffeine and alcohol consumption. Urine, blood, and semen cotinine
levels were analyzed via RIA. Main Outcome Measure: Standard clinical
semen analysis. Results: Number of cigarettes smoked per day, years sm
oked, and log-transformed cotinine levels were associated negatively w
ith semen quality (density, total count, and motility). The associatio
n was evident among men age greater than or equal to 22 years. For exa
mple, the correlation coefficient for the overall association between
logged urine cotinine and logged sperm density was -0.23; those strati
fied by age were 0.13 (age <22 years) and -0.39 (age greater than or e
qual to 22 years). Potential confounders included in regression models
did not diminish the associations. Conclusions: Smoking is associated
with lowered semen quality.