Environment and erectile dysfunction / 中华男科学杂志

ABSTRACT

Exposure to environmental or occupational substances may affect penile erectile function, and it would add to a growing list of pathogenic risk factors associated with erectile dysfunction. Several lines of evidence gained by clinical epidemiologic and biomedical investigations lend support to this viewpoint. Some environmental toxicants, including smoke, lead, organic solvents, and pesticides, are potential hazards, whose effects on the nervous and hormonal systems have been proposed as the leading mechanisms by which environmental toxicants adversely impact erectile function. A synthesis of current data suggests a possible association between environmental exposure and erectile dysfunction, but evidence is not yet sufficient to support a direct causal link for the time being. More studies are needed to identify specific environmental agents that may harm erectile function and to define their exact action mechanisms in this regard.