Does 6mg Boron Affect Male Fertility?
A daily intake of 6mg of boron does not affect male fertility and is safe for men trying to conceive. This dose is well below any threshold associated with reproductive toxicity in humans.
Evidence from Human Studies
The most compelling evidence comes from occupational exposure studies in highly exposed workers:
Chinese boron workers with mean daily boron intakes of 31.3 mg/day (and a subset consuming up to 125 mg/day) showed no significant differences in semen parameters, reproductive outcomes, or fertility compared to unexposed controls 1
Turkish boron workers with mean daily exposures of 47.17 mg/day and blood boron concentrations of 570.6 ng/g demonstrated no adverse effects on semen parameters, FSH, LH, or testosterone levels, even in the extreme exposure group 2
These human blood boron levels at high occupational exposures remain lower by factors of >2-4 compared to the experimental blood levels at NOAELs (no observed adverse effect levels) for male fertility in rats 3
Safety Margins for 6mg Daily Intake
Your 6mg daily dose represents:
- Approximately 5-6 times less than the exposure levels in Chinese workers who showed no fertility effects 1
- Nearly 8 times less than the Turkish workers' extreme exposure group 2
- Well within normal dietary ranges, as background controls in boron-rich areas consume 1.4-4.25 mg/day without adverse effects 1
Animal Data Context (Not Applicable at 6mg)
While animal studies show testicular toxicity, these occur at doses irrelevant to human exposure:
- The NOAEL for fertility effects in male rats is 17.5 mg B/kg body weight/day 3
- For a 70kg human, this would translate to approximately 1,225 mg/day - over 200 times higher than your 6mg dose
- Testicular toxicity in rats occurs at tissue concentrations of 6-8 ppm, which are not reached at human dietary or even extreme occupational exposures 4
Current Guideline Context
While major male infertility guidelines 5 do not specifically address boron supplementation, they emphasize:
- Poor diet results in reduced fertility, and dietary interventions should focus on lower fats/meats with more fruits and vegetables 5
- Current data on the majority of environmental and dietary risk factors are limited 5
- The focus should be on proven risk factors like smoking, anabolic steroids, and obesity rather than trace mineral concerns 5
Clinical Bottom Line
At 6mg daily, boron supplementation poses no risk to male fertility. The accumulated body of evidence from multiple independent human studies demonstrates that even exposures 5-20 times higher than your dose show no reproductive toxicity 1, 2, 3. Concentrations of boron that exert reproductive toxicity in humans are not reached under normal handling and use conditions, including extreme occupational exposures 3.
Human reproductive toxicity studies for boron are consistently negative when considering effective doses and actual exposure levels 3.