When Dr. Tristan Nicholson returned to Seattle after 15 years away, she was surprised to see summer skies filled with wildfire smoke.
Nicholson, who is an assistant professor of urology at the University of Washington, decided to see if the conditions could be a factor in the infertility of some of her patients.
The resulting study was co-authored by Nicholson and published online this month in the journal Fertility and Sterility. It compared the dates of wildfire contamination with the sperm samples of 84 men who donated during potentially high exposure to smoke.
Nicholson was surprised by the results: lower counts, as well as more inactive sperm, compared to samples taken when the air was cleaner.
While Nicholson acknowledged the data was not absolute proof the wildfire smoke caused the reduction in active sperm, she said it is a significant concern, and that the results point to a need for more data.
"We really need to understand, in larger studies, how wildfire smoke and other environmental exposures may influence fertility potential and sperm parameters in both people who are struggling with infertility as well as our communities,” she said.
For now, Nicholson recommends her patients wear high-quality masks to filter and reduce smoke exposure.
Nicholson said the next round of studies will look at a larger group of subjects struggling with infertility as well as other conditions. Her team is also looking into whether in vitro fertilization is impacted by the smoke from wildfires.
