Findings were consistent across wildfire events in Washington in 2018, 2020, and 2022
By Lori Solomon HealthDay Reporter
THURSDAY, Oct. 16, 2025 (HealthDay News) — Wildfire smoke exposure may reduce key measures of sperm quality, according to a study published online Oct. 1 in Fertility and Sterility.
Lillian X. Lindell, M.D., from the University of Washington in Seattle, and colleagues examined whether wildfire smoke exposure was associated with a decline in total motile sperm count. The analysis included 84 patients undergoing fertility treatments who were exposed to seasonal wildfire events in 2018, 2020, and 2022 and who had pre-exposure semen samples before each wildfire event.
The researchers found that median time between initial semen analysis and semen analysis for intrauterine insemination was four months. There was a decline in sperm concentration, total sperm count, total motile sperm count, and total progressively motile sperm count. There was also an increase in percent progressively motile sperm. These trends were similar across event years.
“These results reinforce growing evidence that environmental exposures — specifically wildfire smoke — can affect reproductive health,” senior author Tristan Nicholson, M.D., Ph.D., also from the University of Washington, said in a statement.
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