New Study Finds Vaping May Shrink Testicles and Reduce Sperm Count

Male vaping device users may be losing more than just their tobacco habit. New research on male rats suggests that vaping can shrink testicle size and impair sperm production, reducing sperm count.

Turkish scientists measured the rats’ testicle size before and after exposing the animals to cigarette smoke and e-cigarette vapor, and also identified biomarkers of stress in the blood and reproductive organs. However, the researchers confirmed that, as previous studies have shown, conventional cigarette smoke had an even worse effect on male reproductive organs.

Rats exposed to e-cigarette vapor had a sperm count of 950,000 sperm per milliliter, while the group not exposed to any nicotine substance had 1 million sperm per milliliter. The group exposed to cigarette smoke had the lowest counts of all three groups, at 890,000 sperm per milliliter. Their testicles were also the smallest and weighed less than those of the rats exposed to e-cigarette vapor and the control group.

“It should be taken into consideration that although [e-cigarette] liquids were introduced as harmless in smoking cessation research, they may increase oxidative stress and cause morphological changes in the testicles,” the researchers wrote in their report.

In 2020, Danish researchers also found that men who used e-cigarettes daily had significantly lower total sperm counts than non-users, but the authors of the current study said that more human data is needed to support these findings—especially since e-cigarettes are promoted as an effective way to help people quit smoking.

“To be considered a safe option in smoking cessation research, its effects on people need to be clarified,” they concluded.

It is estimated that 120,000 adults use e-cigarettes despite age restrictions, while millions of children and teenagers have also joined the e-cigarette user population.

Experts caution against assuming that e-cigarettes are a “safe” alternative to smoking, as they have already revealed their own risks, including lung injury and poorer mental health outcomes.