A study from Harvard University has suggested that exposure to pesticide residues on food could affect men’s sperm count.

In the study, men who ate fruit and vegetables with higher levels of pesticide residues - including strawberries, spinach and peppers - had lower sperm counts and lower levels of normal sperm than those who consumed produce with less pesticide residue - including beans and peas, grapefruit and onions.

Harvard professor Jorge Chavarro, who led the study, said, “To our knowledge, this is the first report to link consumption of pesticide residues in fruits and vegetables, a primary exposure route for most people, to an adverse reproductive health outcome in humans.”

Prof Chavarro said numerous earlier studies had shown that consuming conventionally grown fruits and vegetables resulted in measurable pesticide levels in urine, and others had suggested that occupational and environmental exposure to pesticides can affect sperm.

The Harvard study revealed that the sperm count of men who ate most fruit and veg containing higher levels of residues was 49 percent lower than those who ate less. These men also had 32 percent less normally formed sperm than men eating vegetables with fewer pesticide residues.

“These findings should not discourage the consumption of fruit and vegetables in general,” said Chavarro. “In fact, we found that consuming more fruits and vegetables with low pesticide residues was beneficial. This suggests that implementing strategies specifically targeted at avoiding pesticide residues, such as consuming organically grown produce or avoiding produce known to have large amounts of residues, may be the way to go.”