A new multicentre analysis from Indira IVF has found that men living in highly polluted regions with an Air Quality Index above 151 show an 11 per cent decline in normal sperm integrity compared to those in cleaner environments, sharpening concerns about air pollution as a driver of male infertility and potential risks to foetal health. Based on data from 3,222 men aged 21 to 40 across 120 Indira IVF centres, the study reports a clear, graded relationship between worsening air quality and sperm DNA damage, suggesting that India’s urban pollution crisis is now firmly intertwined with its reproductive health burden.
Titled “Evaluating the impact of environmental pollution on sperm DNA Fragmentation: A retrospective cohort analysis”, the study moves beyond conventional semen analysis to focus on sperm DNA fragmentation, a more sensitive marker of genetic damage. Using World Health Organization-recommended standards, the researchers categorised samples as normal when DNA fragmentation was below 25 per cent and abnormal when it exceeded 25 per cent. In areas with relatively better air quality, with AQI between 50 and 100, 69.3 per cent of sperm samples were classified as normal and 30.7 per cent as abnormal. As AQI levels climbed, this balance shifted. In moderately polluted regions, with AQI between 101 and 150, there was an 8.8 per cent drop in normal sperm compared to cleaner areas, and in high-pollution zones above 151, the decline reached 11 per cent.
The authors describe this pattern as a “pollution bias”, where increasing atmospheric toxicity corresponds with a rising proportion of abnormal sperm and a steady erosion of normal sperm DNA integrity. Rather than a threshold effect, the findings point to a continuum in which each rung up the pollution ladder appears to push more men into the higher-risk category for DNA damage. According to the researchers, this trajectory mirrors the “boom” in male infertility being observed in industrialised, high-AQI cities, particularly where residents face prolonged exposure to particulate matter and other airborne toxins.
For Indira IVF, the implications extend beyond the difficulty of achieving pregnancy. “The implications of these findings extend beyond challenges related to conception. Prolonged exposure to environmental toxins can affect sperm DNA integrity, which may also have a bearing on foetal development, placing air pollution within a wider reproductive and developmental health context,” said Dr Kshitiz Murdia, CEO and Whole-Time Director, Indira IVF Hospital Limited. He noted that by stratifying patients based on DNA fragmentation scores, the team could “closely assess how varying air quality levels impact sperm chromosome integrity”, and concluded that rising air pollution “can serve as a reliable indicator for disturbed sperm DNA fragmentation, significantly impacting sperm DNA integrity, particularly in high-pollution urban centres.”
Dr Vipin Chandra, Chief of Clinical and Lab Operations at Indira IVF Hospital Limited, underlined the shift in focus from traditional semen parameters to deeper genetic markers. “We analysed a statistically significant cohort of 3,222 men aged 21 to 40 across 120 Indira IVF centres nationwide. Rather than focusing on conventional semen parameters such as sperm count or motility, the study specifically examined sperm DNA integrity,” he said. This approach, he added, allowed a “more precise assessment of how exposure to air pollution directly impacts the genetic structure of sperm, offering deeper insight into an often-overlooked contributor to male infertility.”
By linking rising AQI levels with measurable sperm DNA fragmentation, the study positions air pollution as a key, quantifiable contributor to impaired sperm health, beyond lifestyle and other commonly cited factors. The researchers note that the growing burden of male infertility documented in recent years appears to align with prolonged exposure to poor air quality, especially in industrial and urban hubs. While the analysis is retrospective, its scale and focus on DNA integrity add weight to calls for cleaner air not only as a respiratory or cardiovascular imperative but as a reproductive and developmental health priority as well.
