Male painters and decorators may be under fertitity threat following a recent research indicating that regular exposure to glycol solvents, chemicals found in paints, may make them prone to fertility problems. Painters and decorators are two and a half times more likely to produce fewer ” normal” sperm than others, a study conducted by occupational and Environment Medicine, United Kingdom, UK , indicated. The study examined more than 2,000 men attending 14 fertility clinics and it showed that exposure to a wide variety of workplace chemicals might affect a man’s ability to father a child.
Allan Pacey of Sheffied University, UK, said the joint research project between the universities of Manchester and sheffield looked at two groups of men attending fertility clinics those with sperm motility problems, and those without them.
The men were questioned about their jobs, lifestyles, and potential exposure to chemicals, revealing a 250 per cent increase in risk of sperm movement problems among those exposed to glycol ethers chemical which is widely used as a solvent in water -based paints. This risk was present even after other lifestyle factors, such as smoking, wearing tight underpants, testicular surgery and manual work, were taken into consideration.