MOSAIC: Pollution can affect male fertility -DAWN Magazine; August 24, 2003

August 24, 2003

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MOSAIC: Pollution can affect male fertility

TRAFFIC pollution can affect male fertility by damaging sperm, Italian scientists said recently.

After studying 85 attendants at tollbooths on Italian highways, researchers at the University of Naples in southern Italy discovered the men had poorer quality sperm than other young and middle-aged Italian workers in the same area.

“The sperm count did not differ significantly between our study group and the controls, but in general, the sperm of the study group was more feeble and less active, so it has a lower fertility potential,” said Dr Michele de Rosa, a researcher at the university.

Levels of testosterone and other hormones in the men — who were exposed to pollutants for about six hours a day — were normal, but sperm motility (ability to swim) was lower, which could affect its ability to fertilize a female egg.

“Our study demonstrates that continuous exposure to traffic pollutants impairs sperm quality in young and middle-aged men,” De Rosa added in a statement.

About one-third of all infertility cases are due to a male problem, which is usually related to the quality or quantity of sperm. Men normally produce at least 20 million sperm per millilitre of semen. Fewer sperm is considered to be impaired fertility. Poor mobility and shape of sperm can also hamper a man’s ability to father a child.

De Rosa and his colleagues, who reported their findings in the journal Human Reproduction, said the tollbooth workers were interviewed and had a complete physical examination. Eighty-three per cent of the men were married. Seven of the 71 married workers were childless. The researchers said the workers had been exposed to higher levels of nitrogen oxides, sulphur oxides, carbon monoxide and lead than the other men in the area. They identified nitrogen oxides and lead as the most likely causes of sperm damage.

Although more research is needed, De Rosa hopes the findings will prompt more studies of men who are exposed to similar levels of environmental pollution in other occupations. “Meanwhile, given our findings, health authorities should be alert to the insidious health effects of environmental pollution.” — Samina Iqbal

Understanding autism

AUTISM is a tendency to morbid concentration on oneself along with fantasy. In 1943, Kanner observed that although children with autism appeared physically healthy, some of them had relatively large heads. This has now been confirmed and is a most replicated neurobiological finding in the disorder. This was stated in a recent issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Autism is now hypothetized to be a complex disorder involving brain growth and brain maturation. Other evidence suggests a disturbance of brain microanatomic and functional organization and connectivity.

A study performed on 48 children aged two to five years, with attention disorder, in California, showed a rapid and excessive increase in head circumference measurements and presumably brain size, beginning several months after birth. This excessive increase occurred well before the typical behavioural symptoms. The increase in brain volume could possibly cause increased rate of growth of neurons or nerve cells, axonal connections and premature myelination. It could also be a reflection on adverse conditions prior to birth. The brain at birth was smaller than normal with a spurt of excessive growth following in the first few months after birth. This finding gives the hope that causes would be identified and an early diagnosis would be possible. Abnormally accelerated rate of head circumference growth may serve as an early warning signal of risk for autism. On this basis effective biological intervention or even prevention of autism could be considered. — Fatema Jawad

Woman topples dominoes record

A 24-YEAR-old woman from China tipped over 303,621 dominos breaking a long-standing record for the world’s longest solo domino topple.

Beijing-born Ma Lihua broke a 19-year-old record set by Germany’s Klaus Friedrich, who set up and toppled 281,581 dominoes.

“There was a time when I was not feeling well but I had a goal to achieve so I continued to persevere,” said Ma, who calls herself a “dominologist.”

Ma said she put in 13-hour days for nearly seven weeks to lay out the dominos.

Bugs and rats meddled with her work. In one instance, a bug knocked over 10,000 tiles. Organizers spread pungent leaves from a local tree, thought to repel insects, around the Singapore Expo hall where Ma staged the record attempt. They also laid down rat traps.

It took just over four minutes to knock down the series of white, red and yellow tiles that revealed the words “World Record” and images of electrical appliances.

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