CONCENTRATIONS OF CADMIUM, LEAD, SELENIUM, AND ZINC IN HUMAN BLOOD AND SEMINAL PLASMA

The concentrations of cadmium, lead, selenium, and zinc in blood and s eminal plasma were determined in 76 Singapore males. Except for zinc, the concentrations were generally higher in blood than in seminal plas ma (cadmium, 1.31 mu g/L vs 0.61 mu g/L; lead, 82.6 mu g/L vs 12.4 mu g/L, and selenium, 163.6 mu g/L vs 71.5 mu g/L). The mean concentratio n of zinc in seminal plasma was more than 30 times higher than in bloo d (202 mg/L vs 6.2 mg/L). Significant positive correlations were found between the concentrations in blood and seminal plasma for the two es sential trace elements: selenium (r = 0.45, p < 0.001) and zinc (r = 0 .25, p < 0.05). However, no relationships were found between the conce ntrations in blood and seminal plasma for two toxic metals (cadmium an d lead). Significant inverse correlations were observed between Cd and Zn (r = - 0.40, p < 0.01), and Pb and Se (I = - 0.32, p < 0.05) in bl ood, whereas significant positive correlations were noted between Cd a nd Se (r = 0.45, p < 0.01), Cd and Zn (r 0.35, p < 0.05), and Se and Z n (r = 0.57, p < 0.001) in seminal plasma. The physiological significa nce of these relationships are also discussed in this paper