Contrasting Associations of Blood and Semen Lead Concentrations with Semen Quality Among Lead Smelter Workers

Details

• Personal Author:
  Alexander BH ; Checkoway, Harvey ; Ewers TG ; Faustman EM ; Muller CH ; Van Netten C
• Description:
  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 micrograms/dl (range 5-58) and 1.9 micrograms/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. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Biomarkers Demography Epidemiology Hematologic Tests Lead Metals Metal Workers Occupational Exposure Occupational Health Safety Sex Characteristics Urogenital Diseases Urogenital System Workplace

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• Keywords:
  Author Keywords: Lead Blood Blood-analysis Demographic-characteristics Exposure-levels Lead-compounds Occupational-exposure Reproductive-effects Reproductive-system-disorders Reproductive Health Semen Sex-factors Smelter Smelters Sperm Work-environment Workers

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• ISSN:
  0271-3586
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  OSHA Region 10 ; Washington
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  464-469
• Volume:
  34
• Issue:
  5
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20024505
• Citation:
  Am J Ind Med 1998 Nov; 34(5):464-469
• Contact Point Address:
  Bruce H. Alexander, Department of Environmental Health, Box 358772, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195
• CAS Registry Number:
  Lead (CAS RN 7439-92-1)
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1999
• NORA Priority Area:
  Other Occupational Concerns
• Performing Organization:
  University of Washington, Seattle, Washington
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  19920401
• Source Full Name:
  American Journal of Industrial Medicine
• End Date:
  19941031
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:20652d5761b4dd864588519be2908381bcf88db63583eb4ea4fc936dfaf1ce5884af1271d5437d6e940f88a66b9fc00a8f86cfeda7e073b19ee34c73bc053eae
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/196278/cdc_196278_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 90.74 KB ]