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Published-Ahead-of-Print August 9, 2006, DOI:10.2164/jandrol.106.000851
Journal of Andrology, Vol. 28, No. 1, January/February 2007
Copyright © American Society of Andrology
DOI: 10.2164/jandrol.106.000851

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Pesticides and Polychlorinated Biphenyls as Potential Risk Factors for Erectile Dysfunction

JANE Y. POLSKY*, KRISTAN J. ARONSON*, JEREMY P. W. HEATON{dagger},{ddagger} AND MICHAEL A. ADAMS{ddagger},§

From the * Department of Community Health and Epidemiology and Division of Cancer Care and Epidemiology, and the Departments of {dagger} Urology, {ddagger} Pharmacology and Toxicology, and the § School of Physical and Health Education, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada.

Correspondence to: Kristan J. Aronson, Division of Cancer Care and Epidemiology, Cancer Research Institute, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada K7L 3N6.


While it is biologically plausible that environmental chemicals such as pesticides and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) with suspected hormone disrupting properties may have an impact on risk of erectile dysfunction (ED), few epidemiologic studies have assessed this potential association. In a clinic-based case-control study in Kingston, Ontario, consenting subjects completed a questionnaire and donated 15 mL of blood for analysis of organochlorines and lipids by gas chromatography. Exposures were compared for 101 cases with ED and 234 comparable control subjects. For most PCB congeners and organochlorine pesticides, geometric mean levels are similar for cases and controls. Multivariate logistic regression results do not show an increased or decreased risk of ED associated with levels of most detectable environmental substances after adjustment for age, total lipids, and confounders. Levels of 2 of the ubiquitous chlorinated pesticides, oxychlordane and trans-nonachlor, which are highly correlated, appear to associate with a reduced risk of ED, but the role of chance cannot be ruled out. To our knowledge, this study is the first to investigate the possible relationship between plasma levels of organochlorines and ED risk, and results do not provide evidence of an association.

     Key words: Erectile function, environment, organochlorines, plasma, epidemiology




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A. L. Burnett
Environmental Erectile Dysfunction: Can the Environment Really Be Hazardous to Your Erectile Health?
J Androl, May 1, 2008; 29(3): 229 - 236.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


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