Association of Blood and Seminal Plasma Cadmium and Lead Levels With Semen Quality in Non-Occupationally Exposed Infertile Men in Abakaliki, South East Nigeria

To evaluate association of blood and seminal plasma lead and cadmium with sperm quality of non-occupationally exposed male partners of couples with infertility.
A cross-sectional study was conducted on 75 men aged 20-45 years (mean = 37.1 ± 7.0 yrs.) with infertility recruited from the Fertility Clinic of a hospital in Abakaliki. Sperm count done in accordance with the WHO guidelines was used to classify the participants as normospamia, oligospermia and azospermia. Atomic absorption spectrophotometer was used to determine lead and cadmium levels in plasma from blood and semen.
There were 15 azospermics, 22 oligospermics and 36 normospermics. Seminal and blood plasma cadmium as well as blood plasma lead were significantly (p The study suggests that environmental exposure to cadmium and lead may contribute to development of poor sperm quality and infertility in men of reproductive age in Nigeria.