Cadmium, Lead, and Mercury in Relation to Reproductive Hormones and Anovulation in Premenopausal Women

Abstract

Background: Metals can interfere with hormonal functioning by binding at the receptor site and through indirect mechanisms; thus, they may be associated with hormonal changes in premenopausal women.Objectives: We examined the associations between cadmium, lead, and mercury, and anovulation and patterns of reproductive hormones [estradiol, progesterone, follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), luteinizing hormone] among 252 premenopausal women 18–44 years of age who were enrolled in the BioCycle Study in Buffalo, New York.Methods: Women were followed for up to two menstrual cycles, with serum samples collected up to eight times per cycle. Metal concentrations were determined at baseline in whole blood by inductively coupled mass spectroscopy. Marginal structural models with stabilized inverse probability weights and nonlinear mixed models with harmonic terms were used to estimate the effects of cadmium, lead, and mercury on reproductive hormone levels during the menstrual cycle and anovulation.Results: Geometric mean (interquartile range) cadmium, lead, and mercury levels were 0.29 (0.19–0.43) μg/L, 0.93 (0.68–1.20) μg/dL, and 1.03 (0.58–2.10) μg/L, respectively. We observed decreases in mean FSH with increasing cadmium [second vs. first tertile: –10.0%; 95% confidence interval (CI), –17.3% to –2.5%; third vs. first tertile: –8.3%; 95% CI, –16.0% to 0.1%] and increases in mean progesterone with increasing lead level (second vs. first tertile: 7.5%; 95% CI, 0.1–15.4%; third vs. first tertile: 6.8%; 95% CI, –0.8% to 14.9%). Metals were not significantly associated with anovulation.Conclusions: Our findings support the hypothesis that environmentally relevant levels of metals are associated with modest changes in reproductive hormone levels in healthy, premenopausal women.

Associations of urinary cadmium with circulating sex hormone levels in pre- and postmenopausal Japanese women

“…However, another study observed no association between blood cadmium and estradiol as well as testosterone in postmenopausal women . A study among premenopausal women reported that the blood cadmium level was associated with a significant decrease in FSH and a non-significant increase in estradiol (Jackson et al, 2011, Pollack et al, 2011. Testosterone was not measured in the study.…”

Time-to-Pregnancy Associated With Couples’ Use of Tobacco Products

“…In premenopausal women, higher blood cadmium levels were associated with decreased follicle-stimulating hormone. 40 Higher urinary cadmium concentrations among men were associated with higher levels of total and free testosterone and estradiol before adjusting for smoking. 41 In addition to potential effects of cadmium on the reproductive system, cigarette smoke contains more than 5000 other chemicals, including several which have been characterized as having adverse effects on reproduction, 42 and these need to be explored further in relation to couples' capacity to conceive.…”

Role of Environmental Factors and Gonadotoxin Exposure in Unexplained Female Infertility

“…However, the effects of the lower, or "trace" doses frequently encountered in the environment are more controversial. Epidemiologic studies of populations lacking occupational exposure reported altered sex-steroid hormone economy [180], and have been associated with clinical female infertility [181][182][183], increased time to pregnancy [184,185], and altered oocyte maturation [186,187], oocyte fertilization [188], embryo development [189], and embryo implantation [190,191] during IVF. In contrast, other studies do not support an association between pregnancy and female exposures to environmental levels of toxic elements [192][193][194][195].…”