The association between ethylene oxide and testosterone in the United States population: a cross-sectional study based on the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2013–2016

Ethylene oxide (EO) is a prevalent industrial contaminant found in the environment and is related to various diseases such as cancers and hypertension. To the best of our knowledge, the association between EO and testosterone has not been explored. The aim of this article was to evaluate the relationship between EO and total testosterone (TT) in the United States population.

In this study, hemoglobin ethylene oxide (HbEO) levels were utilized to evaluate the exposure to EO. The data of this study were collected from National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2013–2016. A total of 3300 participants were enrolled in this study and were separated into 5 groups based on the quintile of HbEO. Weighted multivariable logistic regression was used to assess the association between HbEO and TT. Subgroup analysis was conducted to investigate the connection between HbEO and TT in different stratifications.

In the results, there was a positive relationship between log₁₀-transformed HbEO and TT in the fully adjusted model [β = 37.08, 95% confidence interval (CI): 18.15–56.01, p = 0.004]. After log₁₀-transformed HbEO transferred into a categorical variable based on the quintiles (Q1-Q5), the positive association remained in the highest group (Q5) compared to the lowest group (Q1) [β = 46.09, 95%CI: 12.29–79.90, p = 0.013]. Moreover, subgroup analysis demonstrated that the positive connection between log₁₀-transformed HbEO and TT was stronger in males than females.

The level of HbEO was positively related to TT in the U.S. population and the relation was more obvious in men compared to women.