Background: Human exposure to phenols, including bisphenol A and parabens, is widespread. Evidence suggests that paternal exposure to environmental chemicals may adversely affect reproductive outcomes.

Objectives: We evaluated associations of paternal phenol urinary concentrations with fertilization rate, embryo quality, implantation, and live birth.

Methods: Male–female couples who underwent in vitro fertilization (IVF) and/or intrauterine insemination (IUI) cycles in a prospective study of environmental determinants of fertility and pregnancy outcomes were included. The geometric mean of males’ specific gravity–adjusted urinary phenol concentrations measured before females’ cycle was quantified. Associations between male urinary phenol concentrations and fertilization rate, embryo quality, implantation, and live birth were investigated using generalized linear mixed models to account for multiple cycles per couple.

Results: Couples ( n = 218) underwent 195 IUI and 211 IVF cycles. Paternal phenol concentrations were not associated with fertilization or live birth following IVF. In adjusted models, compared with the lowest quartile of methyl paraben, paternal concentrations in the second quartile were associated with decreased odds of live birth following IUI (adjusted odds ratio = 0.19; 95% CI: 0.04, 0.82).

Conclusions: To our knowledge, these are some of the first data on the association of paternal urinary phenol concentrations with reproduction and pregnancy outcomes. Although these results do not preclude possible adverse effects of paternal paraben exposures on such outcomes, given the modest sample size, further understanding could result from confirmation using a larger and more diverse population.

Citation: Dodge LE, Williams PL, Williams MA, Missmer SA, Toth TL, Calafat AM, Hauser R. 2015. Paternal urinary concentrations of parabens and other phenols in relation to reproductive outcomes among couples from a fertility clinic. Environ Health Perspect 123:665–671; http://dx.doi.org/10.1289/ehp.1408605

Address correspondence to R. Hauser, 665 Huntington Ave., Building I, Room 1409, Boston, MA 02115 USA. Telephone: (617) 432-3326. E-mail: rhauser@hsph.harvard.edu

We gratefully acknowledge X. Ye, X. Zhou, R. Hennings, A. Bishop, and T. Jia [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)] for measuring the urinary concentrations of the phenols; J.B. Ford and M.G. Keller (Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health research nurses); R. Dadd and P. Morey (research staff); and the study participants.

This work was supported by National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences grants ES009718 and ES022955 and training grant T32 ES 07069, which supported L.E.D.

The findings and conclusions in this report are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official position of the CDC.

The authors declare they have no actual or potential competing financial interests.

Received: 25 April 2014 Accepted: 9 March 2015 Advance Publication: 13 March 2015 Final Publication: 1 July 2015

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