Fertility of male workers of the Italian mint

Fertility among workers exposed to metal fumes and solvents in the Italian mint (stampers, founders, and other technical workers) was compared to the reproductive experience of the administrative staff. Data on the reproducti ve history and time to pregnancy were collected by interview. For workers w ith children, data on the time to pregnancy (TTP) for the first pregnancy w as assessed in relation to occupational risk factors. The groups with the h ighest prevalence of pregnancy delay beyond 6 months were stampers (21%) an d those exposed to solvents (21.5%). Logistic regression did not show a sig nificant association of these: job exposures with pregnancy delay, but the power of the study to show an important difference was low. The data are no t inconsistent. with the hypothesis that male exposure to solvents and meta l fumes is associated with an increase in the TTP. (C) 2000 Elsevier Scienc e Inc. All rights reserved.