In the mouse, a long-time insecticide used in the West Indies harms the production of spermatozoa

Exposure of mice to chlordecone, a long-time insecticide used in the West Indies, adversely affects the production of spermatozoa from several generations of males, even if they have not been exposed themselves, according to a study by the National Institute of Health and Medical Research (Inserm) published on July 6, 2018 in the journal Scientific Reports . As with any experiment on mice, these conclusions can not automatically apply to the human species, take care to emphasize the authors. " The researchers do not know what could be the effective reach of these results on the fertility of men residing in the West Indies who were exposed to chlordecone during their prenatal life ," says Inserm in a statement released on 23 July 2018.

Reduced Sperm Production

In this study, early-gestating mice " were orally exposed to a daily dose of chlordecone known not to induce spermatozoa. adverse effects in this species ", according to Inserm. As a result, the insecticide causes their third-generation male offspring (that is, the first that has not been directly exposed) " a decrease in the number of germinal stem cells (at the origin of spermatozoa), an impairment of their differentiation (process by which cells specialize, Ed.) and a decrease in the number of mature spermatozoa ". " The entire germ line in males is affected either quantitatively or qualitatively after two generations ," says study leader Fatima Smagulova, quoted in the statement

A compound that can remain more than 600 years in soils

Chlorececone, a carcinogen and endocrine disrupting insecticide, banned in the United States since 1977, was used in the West Indies from 1972 to 1993 to control weevils banana. Banned in France in 1990, it was used until 1993 by way of derogation from the West Indies. It is always present in soils, where it can stay up to 600 to 700 years. It is found in some foods of plant or animal origin, as well as in some sources of drinking water. " Levels of environmental exposure to chlordecone that populations are currently facing are unlikely to result in changes in sperm characteristics when exposure occurs in adulthood ", Inserm recalls citing previous studies. On the other hand, the consequences of exposure during pregnancy are unknown