# Male pesticide exposure, reproductive health and epigenetics

> **NIH NIH R01** · BRIGHAM AND WOMEN'S HOSPITAL · 2024 · $672,495

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
Infertility is estimated to affect ~15% of all couples worldwide and male factors account for 40% of infertility
among couples. Only ~10% of U.S. reproductive age women get pregnant each year and only ~60% are
intended pregnancies. Despite the increasing use of medical treatment among couples with decreased
fecundity, success rates of live birth have remained stable. Thus, identifying modifiable factors, such as
environmental exposures, that can impact human fertility is a major clinical and public health matter. Intake of
fruits and vegetables in the U.S. general population is the primary source of exposure to non-persistent
pesticides, which has been associated with different adverse health effects, including infertility, reproductive
disorders, and pregnancy and perinatal complications. While it has been shown that paternal environmental
exposures may impact the sperm epigenome and consequently offspring health, no epidemiological studies to
date have explored pregnancy and perinatal effects of paternal pesticide exposure and potential biological
mechanisms that explain the associations. To address these important knowledge gaps, we aim to determine
the association of male urinary concentrations of pesticide biomarkers (individually and as a mixture) with
semen parameters, sperm DNA methylation and mitochondrial DNA biomarkers (aim 1), with pregnancy and
perinatal outcomes adjusting for female urinary pesticide biomarkers (aim 2), and also with epigenetic aging in
semen and leukocytes. Epigenetic age or DNA methylation aging biomarkers have recently emerged as
excellent biomarkers of age-related diseases such as infertility and reproductive health. To examine these
novel aims, we will leverage two prospective cohorts of couples attending fertility centers: the Environment and
Reproductive Health (EARTH) Study in Boston, MA (main study), and the Sperm Environmental Epigenetics
and Development Study (SEEDS) in Springfield, MA (validation study). The proposed study will increase our
understanding of non-occupational pesticide exposure for a relatively understudied area of male reproductive
health and will also open an important area of inquiry into better understanding of how paternal environmental
exposures can impact couples’ and offspring’s health and potential biologic mechanisms linking the paternal
environment to his children’s health. Most importantly, this project addresses strategic priorities of the National
Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) for advancing environmental health sciences, including
assessing coexposures and individual susceptibility to environmental chemicals. We are currently collecting
detailed health measures on children who were born to couples who participated in the EARTH Study to
determine the extent to which paternal and maternal preconception environmental exposures are associated
with neurodevelopmental and metabolic endpoints. Incorporating the assessment of exposure to several
c...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10894243
- **Project number:** 5R01ES034700-02
- **Recipient organization:** BRIGHAM AND WOMEN'S HOSPITAL
- **Principal Investigator:** Lidia Minguez Alarcon
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $672,495
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2023-08-01 → 2028-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10894243

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10894243, Male pesticide exposure, reproductive health and epigenetics (5R01ES034700-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10894243. Licensed CC0.

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