Epidemiological assessment of occupationally related, chemically induced sperm count suppression

Occupationally related, chemically induced sperm count suppression is a recently recognized problem, first brought to light in connection with the manufacture and formulation of dibromochloropropane (DBCP). The authors studied sperm count data from four occupational cohorts - two exposed to DBCP and two exposed to epichlorohydrin (ECH). In both DBCP cohorts there was a significant difference (alpha = 0.05) between sperm count distribution functions of the exposed group and of the non-exposed group. A much higher percentage of exposed men was oligospermic and the median sperm count for each exposed group was substantially lower than that for the respective non-exposed group. In the ECH cohorts there was no significant difference between sperm count data for the exposed group and for the non-exposed group. The authors concluded that exposure to DBCP, but not to ECH, was positively associated with detectable sperm count suppression. It is suggested that the key to identifying and assessing occupationally related sperm count suppression lies in the proper classification and interpretation of group sperm count data.