EFFECT OF CADMIUM AND CIGARETTE-SMOKING ON HUMAN SEMEN QUALITY

Objective-In recent years, there have been many nonconclusive studies on cigarette smoking and sperm duality. Few studies, if any, have atte mpted to implicate any chemical in cigarette smoke in decrease of sper m quality. The aim of this study was to examine the relationship betwe en cigarette smoking, blood and seminal plasma concentrations of cadmi um and lead, and sperm quality. Methods-A total of 184 males who were undergoing initial screening for infertility were included in the stud y. Tests conducted included semen characteristics (volume, total sperm count, sperm viability, motility and morphology of spermatozoa), and blood and seminal plasma concentrations of lead and cadmium. Results-M ore than 50% and 70% of the subjects had normal sperm density and moti lity, respectively. The mean concentrations of lead in blood (PbB) and seminal plasma (PbS) were 7.09 mu g/dL and 12.98 mu g/L, respectively , while the mean concentrations of cadmium in blood (CdB) and seminal plasma (CdS) were 0.95 mu g/L, and 0.58 mu g/L, respectively. Signific ant correlations were observed between CdB and cigarette-years and spe rm density (negative). CdS was significantly correlated with cigarette -years and sperm volume (negative). Significant trends were observed f or different categories of cigarette-years with CdB, CdS and sperm den sity. Conclusion-Cigarette smelting appears to affect sperm density, e specially in heavy smokers. Cadmium (present) in cigarettes could be a possible causative agent for the low sperm density among smokers.