Aneuploidy in sperm and exposure to fungicides and lifestyle factors

Fungicides include chemicals that are known aneugens. The purpose of the pr esent study was to investigate whether occupational exposure to these and o ther agricultural pesticides induces aneuploidy in human sperm. The contrib ution of lifestyle factors (smoking and alcohol consumption) to the frequen cy of aneuploid sperm was evaluated as well. The effects of age and sperm c oncentration were analyzed as confounders. Spermatozoa from 30 healthy farm ers were studied before and after exposure to fungicides, using fluorescenc e in situ hybridization (FISH). Ten thousand spermatozoa were scored per se men sample to determine the disomy and diploidy frequencies for chromosomes 1 and 7. Exposure to fungicides was not associated with sperm aneuploidy. Smoking was significantly associated with sperm carrying an extra chromosom e and with diploid sperm as well as with the aggregate frequency of aneuplo id sperm. Alcohol consumption, sperm concentration, and age showed inconsis tent results before and after the season of exposure to fungicides. For low -level exposures, such as occupational exposures, the sensitivity of the sp erm-FISH method may not be sufficient. The present study supports earlier o nes showing that smoking can increase aneuploidy in human sperm. Environ. M el. Mutagen. 34:39-46, 1999. (C) 1999 Wiley-Liss, Inc.