Air pollution, specifically PM1.0, has been associated with male infertility in an animal model of exposure. However, the possible mechanisms that might be involved in PM1.0-related infertility have not been fully defined. Using the information discussed in the Reproductive Toxicology lecture, please respond to the following prompts:

A. In developing an epidemiological study, which population of people would you study? Please be sure to provide rationale for why you would choose this subset of the population to study?

B. What measures of fertility would you evaluate? Why would you use these specific measures?

C. Which hormones would you measure? Why are these hormones important to evaluate?

D. In an animal model, which two parts of the HPG axis pathway would you evaluate for damage? How might damage to these parts of the HPG axis affect fertility?