Look what I found. Apparently it DOES affect sperm.
Smoking may hamper a man’s fertility, according to a small study funded by cigarette company Philip Morris.
Scientists at the University of Buffalo compared sperm from screened sperm donors to sperm from 18 male smokers. In lab tests, the smokers’ sperm was less likely to bind tightly to an egg—a necessary step for fertilization.
Men who smoke also “should be aware that smoking can damage their sperm DNA, passing on faulty DNA to their baby. Concerned smokers should quit or be tested in a local andrology laboratory,”
“Like other cells in the body, human sperm carry a receptor for nicotine, which means they recognize and respond to nicotine,” Burkman explains.
In previous lab tests, the researchers had exposed sperm to nicotine. That “significantly altered” three important sperm functions, write the researchers.