Male painters exposed to glycol ethers found in water-based paints are more likely to have poor semen quality, a British study has found.

Researchers at the Universities of Sheffield and Manchester in England found men who regularly work with paints that include widely used solvents are 2.5 times more likely to have low motile or moving sperm count than those who do not.

Researchers studied nearly 2,118 men who complained of fertility problems and were also working regularly with glycol ethers. The study concluded that painters and decorators who worked with these water-based paints, inks and adhesives, had low numbers of sperm that swim correctly.

The U.K. study, published in the journal Occupational Environmental Medicine, looked at men attending 14 fertility clinics. Sperm motility - the amount of movement of individual sperm - is an important factor in overall fertility.

However, glycol ether was the only chemical linked to fertility problems in men. Apart from glycol ether, there are few work place chemical threats to male fertility, the study concluded.