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Table I. General characteristics of workers in the aluminium producing Table II. Number of live births in relation to length of time elapsed since
industry date of marriage (N: number; M: mean; S: standard deviation) in workers in
the aluminium producing industry
Exposed group Control group
Number of years French Exposed Control
Number of workers 692 588 since marriage population group group
Year of marriage: mean (SD) 1955.9 (12.1) 1955.6 (12.5)
Age at time of marriage (years): mean (SD) 5 N 655 555
Men 27.5 (5.3) 27.0 (6.1) M 1.35 1.83*** 1 1.72***
Women 23.8 (5.2) 24.0 (6.5) S 0.83 0.84
Smokers: % 66.7* 57.0 10 N 566 469
Heavy drinkers: % 5.3 3.2 M 1.93 2.43*** 11 2.24***
Length of employment (years): 19.8 (10.6) 20.8 (11.3) S 1.15 1.04
mean (SD) 15 N 408 360
M 2.17 2.74*** 111 2.42***
Significant difference: *P , 0.01. S 1.43 1.20
20 N 279 241
M 2.26 2.97*** 111 2.50***
Results S 1.56 1.16
The levels of exposure of potroom workers to heat (∆tcr) 25 N 209 175
M 2.28 2.99*** 11 2.60**
evaluated in winter ranged from 0.1°C to 1.1°C. In summer, S 1.58 1.21
they were above the maximum allowable level (0.8°C) for 30 N 137 116
most potroom workers. M 2.28 3.11*** 1 2.63
S 1.74 1.34
The strength of the magnetic fields measured near the pots Standardized birth ratios (SBR) 1.17 1.04
was ~4–30 mT. In the passageways where potroom workers 95% confidence interval (1.12–1.23) (0.98–1.09)
mainly stay, the exposure levels were lower: 20 mT maximum. Relative risk of birth (RRB) 1.13°°
These values were generally below the limit value suggested Comparisons between French population and aluminium industry workers
in the USA: 20 mT (Miller, 1987). (Student’s t-test): **P , 0.01; ***P , 0.001.
There was no significant difference between the ‘exposed’ Comparisons between exposed and control groups (Student’s t-test): 1P ,
0.05, 11P , 0.01, 111P , 0.001.
and ‘control’ groups for the average year of marriage, and the Significance of relative risk of birth (RRB): °°P , 0.01.
average age of the workers and of their spouses at the time of
marriage (Table I).
Exposed workers were more frequently smokers than unex- practices of the couples, non-occupational factors influencing
posed ones. the fertility of the man and/or woman (e.g. smoking, which
The length of employment in the aluminium industry was can alter male fertility, was more frequent in the ‘exposed’
not significantly different between exposed and non-exposed than in the ‘non-exposed’ group; this could have been a bias
workers. if fertility was reduced in the ‘exposed’ group, but this was
The numbers of live births, in both groups, in relation to not the case).
length of time elapsed since the date of marriage, are indicated It is unlikely, however, that these factors should differ
in Table II. between the ‘exposed’ and ‘control’ groups, since they were
Whatever the time elapsed since the date of marriage, the composed of workers from within the same factories, who
average number of live births in the ‘exposed’ group was belonged to the same socio–professional category and were
greater than that in the ‘control’ group; in addition, the average all of French nationality.
number of live births in both groups of aluminium industry The object of the study was to see whether the working
workers was greater than the national average. For instance, conditions of potroom workers in the aluminium industry, who
30 years after marriage, the average numbers of live births are exposed to heat and to static magnetic fields, have any
were 2.63 (61.34) for the ‘control’ group, and 3.11 (61.74) effects on male fertility.
for the ‘exposed’ group (P , 0.05). The reference value in Our results are not in accordance with those of numerous
the French population was 2.28. experimental and epidemiological studies which showed an
The standardized birth ratio (SBR) in the ‘control’ group adverse effect of heat on male fertility. These include experi-
was: 1.04 (95% CI: 0.98–1.09) and in the ‘exposed’ group: mental studies which were performed on rats or mice, either
1.17 (95% CI: 1.12–1.23). The relative birthrate ratio (RBR 5 with direct exposure of animals to heat (Parvinen, 1973;
1.13) was significantly higher than 1 (P , 0.001). Knecht et al., 1978; Bedrak et al., 1980) or with exposure to
microwaves (Abadir et al., 1979; Saunders and Kowalczuk,
1981; Saunders et al., 1983), the effects of which are due to
Discussion local heat generated in the testes (Erwin, 1988).
The index taken for estimating the fertility of these workers Exposure to heat in a Finnish sauna bath of 12 married
was the number of live births since the marriage. As data for medical students resulted in a lowered sperm count followed
evaluating the fertility of the workers were obtained exclusively by rapid recovery (Procope, 1965). Changes in spermatogenesis
from the administrative files of the company, we could not have been observed in subjects exposed to heat (Brun and
take into account the following factors: miscarriages and Clavert, 1977), and in feverish subjects (Zorgniotti, 1981).
abortions, births before or outside wedlock, the contraceptive The role of hyperthermia on the testicles has also been put
2017
J.-M.Mur et al.
forward as an explanation for the hypofertility of subjects Aldrich, T.E. and Easterly, C.E. (1987) Electromagnetic fields and public
health. Environ. Health Perspect., 75, 159–171.
suffering from varicocele, and would appear to be confirmed Baird, D.D. and Wilcox, A.J. (1986) Effects of occupational exposures on the
by experimental studies during which a lowering of the fertility of couples. Occup. Med., 1, 361–374.
temperature of the testicles had led to an improvement of Baum S.J., Ekstrom, M.E., Skidmore, W.D. et al. (1976) Biological
measurements in rodents exposed continuously throughout their adult life
spermatogenesis (Zorgniotti, 1981). to pulsed electromagnetic radiation. Health Phys., 30, 161–166.
Several epidemiological case-control studies showed a clear Bedrak, E., Chap, Z. and Fried, K. (1980) Factors for consideration in the
relationship between occupational exposure to heat and a interpretation of the adverse effects of elevated environmental temperatures
decrease in male fertility, delayed conception (Rachootin and on reproduction in the male rat. Int. J. Biometeorol., 24, 117–128.
Bonde, J.P. (1992) Semen quality in welders exposed to radiant heat. Br.
Olsen, 1983; Baird and Wilcox, 1986) and oligozoospermia J. Ind. Med., 49, 5–10.
(Chia et al., 1994). Studies conducted in the ceramics industry Breslow, N.E., and Day, N.E. (1987) Statistical Methods in Cancer Research;
(Figa-Talamanca et al., 1992) and in welders (Bonde, 1992) volume II (The Design and Analysis of Cohort Studies). International
Agency for Research on Cancer, Lyon, pp. 93–95.
showed sperm abnormalities in workers exposed to heat. Only
Brun, B. and Clavert, A. (1977) Modifications de l’acrosome chez un homme
one epidemiological study was negative and could not relate exposé à la chaleur. J. Gynecol. Obstetr. Biol. Reprod., 6, 907–911.
the summer decrease in sperm count to heat in outdoor workers Chia, S.E., Ong, C.N. and Tsakok, F.H.M. (1994) Effects of occupation on
(Levine et al., 1992). sperm quality among workers in Singapore. In Rantanen J. et al. (eds),
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On the other hand, our results are in accordance with 1. Finnish Institute of Occupational Health, Helsinki, pp. 149–152.
those of most studies, which did not reveal any effect of Cohen, R. (1986) Radiofrequency and microwave radiation in the
electromagnetic fields on male fertility, if one omits the effects microelectronics industry. State of the art reviews. Occup. Med., 1, 145–154.
of microwaves, which can be explained by an increase of heat Erwin, D.N. (1988) Mechanisms of biological effects of radiofrequency
electromagnetic fields: an overview. Aviation, 59, A21–A31.
in the testes (Erwin, 1988). The effects on spermatogenesis or Figa-Talamanca, I., Dell’Orco, V., Pupi, A. et al. (1992) Fertility and semen
on sperm indices were negative in mice exposed to low quality of workers exposed to high temperatures in the ceramics industry.
frequency magnetic fields (Picazo et al. 1995; de Vita et al., Reprod. Toxicol., 6, 517–523.
Gagge, A.P., Stolwijk, J.A.J. and Niski, Y. (1971) An effective temperature
1995) or to static magnetic fields (Tablado et al., 1996) or to scale based on a simple model of human physiological regulatory response.
pulsed electromagnetic radiation (Baum et al., 1976). ASHRAE Trans., 77, 247–262.
In an epidemiological case-control study, there was no Henderson, J., Baker, H.W.G. and Hanna, P.J. (1986) Occupation-related male
relationship between sperm parameters and occupational expo- infertility: a review. Clin. Reprod. Fert., 4, 87–106.
Howarth, B. (1969) Fertility in the ram following exposure to elevated ambient
sure to high or medium magnetic fields (Lundberg et al., temperature and humidity. J. Reprod. Fert., 19, 179–185.
1995). Two epidemiological studies on workers in high-voltage INSEE (1978) Annuaire statistique de la France 1978. INSEE, Paris, p. 39.
substations (Knave et al., 1979) and on operators of plastic INSEE (1981) Statistiques et indicateurs des régions françaises. Annexe au
welding machines (Mild et al., 1987) failed to reveal any projet de loi de finances pour 1981. INSEE, les collections de l’INSEE,
45–46 R, Paris.
fertility effect related to exposure of male workers to electro- INSEE (1984) Données sociales. Edition 1984. INSEE, Paris, p. 416.
magnetic fields. Knave, B.G. and Tornqvist, S.G. (1985) Epidemiological studies on effects
Despite the presence of at least one real risk factor (exposure of exposure to ELF electromagnetic fields. In Grandolfo, M., Michaelson,
S.M. and Rindi, A. (eds), Biological Effects and Dosimetry of Static and
to heat), we have observed significantly greater birthrates in ELF Electromagnetic Fields. Plenum Press, New York, pp 607–619.
the ‘exposed’ group than in the ‘control’ group. The potroom Knave, B., Gamberale, F., Bergstrom, S. et al. (1979) Long-term exposure to
workers are also exposed to other agents, of a chemical electric fields: a cross-sectional epidemiologic investigation of
nature, in particular fluoride products and polycyclic aromatic occupationally exposed workers in high-voltage substations. Scand. J. Work
Environ. Health, 5, 115–125.
hydrocarbons. We have no knowledge of any effects of these Knecht, E.A., Wright, G.L. and Toraason, M.A. (1978) Periodic, short-term
products on male fertility. The comparison with the national heat exposure and reproductive function in male and female rats. Can.
reference reveals that fertility in the ‘exposed’ and ‘control’ J. Physiol. Pharmacol., 56, 283–287.
Lahdetie, J. (1995) Occupation- and exposure-related studies on human sperm.
groups is greater than that of the population as a whole. This J. Occup. Environ. Med., 37, 922–930.
difference can be attributed to regional disparities in the Lancranjan, I., Maiganescu, M., Rafaila, E. et al. (1975) Gonadic function in
birthrates (INSEE, 1981), and to the socio–professional cat- workmen with long-term exposure to microwaves. Health Phys., 29,
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Levine, R.J., Brown, M.H., Bell, M. et al. (1992) Air-conditioned environments
blue-collar workers whose fertility is higher than that of other do not prevent deterioration of human semen quality during the summer.
socio–professional categories included in the national reference Fertil. Steril., 57, 1075–1083.
(INSEE, 1984). Lundsberg, L.S., Bracken, M.B. and Belanger, K. (1995) Occupationally
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beings of high exposure to radiofrequence radiation – study of health and
may be supported by the results, but needs further study. exposure of plastic welding machine operators. Arbete Och Halsa, 10, 1–66.
Miller, G. (1987) Exposure guidelines for magnetic fields. Am. Ind. Hyg.
Assoc. J., 48, 957–968.
Parvinen, M. (1973) Observation on freshly isolated and accurately identified
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