Contrasting associations of blood and semen lead concentrations with semen quality among lead smelter workers

Abstract

While blood lead concentration has been inversely associated with indicators of reproductive health in occupationally exposed male workers, the utility of lead concentration in semen as an indicator of lead exposure to the male reproductive system has not been fully explored. Blood and semen lead concentrations from 81 lead smelter workers were examined in relation to semen quality and endocrine function parameters. Mean blood and semen lead concentrations were 22.8 μg/dl (range 5–58) and 1.9 μg/dl (range 0.1–17.6), respectively. Total sperm count and concentration decreased with increasing blood lead concentration; p for trend was 0.003 and 0.009, respectively. Semen lead concentration was inversely related to total sperm count (p = 0.05), ejaculate volume (p = 0.001), and serum testosterone (p = 0.004), but not to sperm concentration. The association between semen lead concentration and total sperm count was eliminated when volume was included in the model. Blood lead concentration was more consistently associated with indicators of sperm production than was semen lead. In contrast, semen lead concentration was negatively associated with circulating testosterone concentrations. Our findings indicate that measurement of semen lead may not be a valuable adjunct to conventional blood lead monitoring for investigations of male reproductive system toxicity. Am. J. Ind. Med. 34:464–469, 1998. © 1998 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.

Correlation between seminal lead and cadmium and seminal parameters in idiopathic oligoasthenozoospermic males

“…The results of our study revealed a significant increase in lead and cadmium levels in the semen of patients with idiopathic oligo– and/or asthenozoospermia in comparison to fertile controls. This is consistent with five of the above studies [11, 17, 23, 24, 26]. …”

“…Similarly, Xu and coauthors [22] failed to establish a relationship between heavy metal seminal concentration and semen quality. On the other hand, Kuo and coauthors [23] and Alexander and coauthors [24] observed an inverse relationship between lead concentration and sperm concentration in lead battery workers. Also, Pant and coauthors [17] reported a significant negative correlation between seminal lead and cadmium concentration and sperm concentration in oligoasthenozoospermic men in the general population.…”

The Endocrine Disrupting Effects of Heavy Metals

“…118 Mesleki kurşun maruziyetinin etkilerinin incelendiği birçok çalışmada, kan kurşun düzeyi azalmış sperm sayısı, zayıf sperm motilitesi ve anormal sperm morfolojisi ile ilişkili bulunmuştur. [119][120][121][122][123][124][125][126][127][128] Düşük ila orta kan kurşun düzeylerine (ortalama kan kurşun düzeyi=367 mg/L) sahip bir grup Hırvat erkeğin, mesleki olarak kurşuna maruz kalmayan erkeklerle (ortalama kan kurşun düzeyi=103 mg/L) karşılaştırıldığı bir çalışmada; medyan sperm yoğunluğu, sperm sayısı ve hareketli sperm sayısının düşük ve orta derecede kurşuna maruz kalan erkeklerde anlamlı olarak düşük olduğu bildirilmiştir. Çalışmada, kan kurşun düzeyleri ile sperm sayısı ve progresif olarak hareketli sperm sayısı arasında negatif; anormal sperm başı morfolojisi, testosteron ve estradiol düzeyleri ile pozitif korelasyon gösterdiği, daha yüksek kan kurşun düzeylerinde, prostat sekresyon belirteçlerinde (seminal çinko seviyesi, asit fosfataz aktivitesi ve sitrik asit düzeyi) düşüş gözlendiği belirtilmiştir.…”

Simple PbII fluorescent probe based on PbII‐catalyzed hydrolysis of phosphodiester

“…Lead is a toxic heavy metal element that can imperil human health. For instance, lead can devastate the functions of such apparatuses as the nervous, hematogenous, reproductive and growing, and skeletal systems 1–6. Moreover, exposure to lead can lead to irreversible damage of the brain, especially in infants 7, 8.…”