Relationship between radon concentration, ventilation rate and male infertility: a case study in Iraqi Kurdistan
by Asaad H. Ismail, Mohamad S. Jaafar
International Journal of Low Radiation (IJLR), Vol. 7, No. 3, 2010

Abstract: The relationship between annual effective dose, ventilation rate and the rate of male infertility in selected locations in the Iraqi Kurdistan region was studied using the bedrooms of 124 homes of men whose fertilities were determined using a CR-39 nuclear track detector. The results show that there is an exponential relation between annual effective dose and the rate of male infertility, and radon concentrations in most locations which have a high rate of male infertility are increased, especially in those men with a low concentration of sperm (sperm/ml). This may be due to the ventilation rate, the structure of the houses, and variations in geological formation and in grades of uranium at different locations. The average rate of annual effective dose was 3.688 ± 0.828 mSv y⁻¹, 2.903 ± 0.332 mSv y⁻¹ and 2.793 ± 0.428 mSv y⁻¹ for poor, partial and good ventilation rates, respectively. The rate of male infertility was (272.77 ± 140.90) × 10⁻²%, (144.05 ± 19.65) × 10⁻²% and (139.11 ± 17.26) × 10⁻²% for poor, partial and good ventilation rates, respectively. This is a clear indication of the effect of the radon concentration on male sterility, especially on the activity of sperm.

Online publication date: Wed, 11-Aug-2010

The full text of this article is only available to individual subscribers or to users at subscribing institutions.

 
Existing subscribers:
Go to Inderscience Online Journals to access the Full Text of this article.

Pay per view:
If you are not a subscriber and you just want to read the full contents of this article, buy online access here.

Complimentary Subscribers, Editors or Members of the Editorial Board of the International Journal of Low Radiation (IJLR):
Login with your Inderscience username and password:

Username:        Password:          Forgotten your password?

Want to subscribe?
A subscription gives you complete access to all articles in the current issue, as well as to all articles in the previous three years (where applicable). See our Orders page to subscribe.

If you still need assistance, please email subs@inderscience.com