Evidence Hub

Long term exposure to road traffic noise and air pollution and risk of infertility in men and women: nationwide Danish cohort study

M. Sørensen, A. Poulsen, B. Nøhr, J. Khan, M. Ketzel, Jørgen Brandt, O. Raaschou-Nielsen, Allan Jensen

British medical journal, 2024

526 participants · 35 citations

Abstract

Abstract Objective To investigate associations between long term residential exposure to road traffic noise and particulate matter with a diameter <2.5 µm (PM2.5) and infertility in men and women. Design Nationwide prospective cohort study. Setting Denmark. Participants 526 056 men and 377 850 women aged 30-45 years, with fewer than two children, cohabiting or married, and residing in Denmark between 2000 and 2017. Main outcome measure Incident infertility in men and women during follow-up in the Danish National Patient Register. Results Infertility was diagnosed in 16 172 men and 22 672 women during a mean follow-up of 4.3 years and 4.2 years, respectively. Mean exposure to PM2.5 over five years was strongly associated with risk of infertility in men, with hazard ratios of 1.24 (95% confidence interval 1.18 to 1.30) among men aged 30-36.9 years and 1.24 (1.15 to 1.33) among men aged 37-45 years for each interquartile (2.9 µg/m3) higher PM2.5 after adjustment for sociodemographic variables and road traffic noise. PM2.5 was not associated with infertility in women. Road traffic noise (Lden, most exposed facade of residence) was associated with a higher risk of infertility among women aged 35-45 years, with a hazard ratio of 1.14 (1.10 to 1.18) for each interquartile (10.2 dB) higher five year mean exposure. Noise was not associated with infertility among younger women (30-34.9 years). In men, road traffic noise was associated with higher risk of infertility in the 37-45 age…

How strong is the evidence?

Evidence Hub reads this as a cohort study, done in people. Its evidence level is 3 of 5 (Moderate · trial / cohort / secondary analysis). Trials without a large randomized design, cohorts and secondary analyses give moderate evidence. Reported size: 526 participants or records.

How the five levels of evidence work. The level is assigned automatically from the abstract and can be wrong, so check the paper.

Read the paper

Related studies

Go deeper in Evidence Hub

Evidence Hub adds a study data sheet (design, sample size, evidence level, key numbers), an AI summary and a chat grounded in the paper's text.

Open this study Sign up free