Environmental mercury exposure, semen quality and reproductive hormones in Greenlandic Inuit and European men: a cross-sectional study
(2013) In Asian Journal of Andrology 15(1). p.97-104- Abstract
- Several animal studies indicate that mercury is a male reproductive toxicant, but human studies are few and contradictory. We examined semen characteristics and serum levels of reproductive hormones in relation to environmental exposure to mercury. Blood and semen samples were collected from 529 male partners of pregnant women living in Greenland, Poland and Ukraine between May 2002 and February 2004. The median concentration of the total content of mercury in whole blood was 9.2 ng ml(-1) in Greenland (0.2-385.8 ng ml(-1)), 1.0 ng ml(-1) in Poland (0.2-6.4 ng ml(-1)) and 1.0 ng ml(-1) in Ukraine (0.2-4.9 ng ml(-1)). We found a significantly positive association between the blood levels of mercury and serum concentration of inhibin B in... (More)
- Several animal studies indicate that mercury is a male reproductive toxicant, but human studies are few and contradictory. We examined semen characteristics and serum levels of reproductive hormones in relation to environmental exposure to mercury. Blood and semen samples were collected from 529 male partners of pregnant women living in Greenland, Poland and Ukraine between May 2002 and February 2004. The median concentration of the total content of mercury in whole blood was 9.2 ng ml(-1) in Greenland (0.2-385.8 ng ml(-1)), 1.0 ng ml(-1) in Poland (0.2-6.4 ng ml(-1)) and 1.0 ng ml(-1) in Ukraine (0.2-4.9 ng ml(-1)). We found a significantly positive association between the blood levels of mercury and serum concentration of inhibin B in men from Greenland (beta=0.074, 95% confidence interval (CI)=0.021 to 0.126) and in an analysis including men from all three regions (beta=0.067, 95% CI=0.024 to 0.110). The association may be due to beneficial effects of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), which are contained in seafood and fish. No significant association (P>0.05) was found between blood concentrations of mercury and any of the other measured semen characteristics (semen volume, total sperm count, sperm concentration, morphology and motility) and reproductive hormones (free androgen index (FAI), follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), luteinizing hormone (LH), testosterone and LHxtestosterone) in any region. In conclusion, the findings do not provide evidence that environmental mercury exposure in Greenlandic and European men with median whole blood concentration up to 10 ng ml(-1) has adverse effects on biomarkers of male reproductive health. Asian Journal of Andrology (2013) 15, 97-104; doi:10.1038/aja.2012.121; published online 10 December 2012 (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/3481002
- author
- Mocevic, Emina ; Specht, Ina O. ; Marott, Jacob L. ; Giwercman, Aleksander LU ; Jönsson, Bo A LU ; Toft, Gunnar ; Lundh, Thomas LU and Bonde, Jens Peter
- organization
- publishing date
- 2013
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- blood mercury concentration, environmental mercury exposure, male, fertility, reproduction, reproductive hormones, semen characteristics, semen quality
- in
- Asian Journal of Andrology
- volume
- 15
- issue
- 1
- pages
- 97 - 104
- publisher
- Nature Publishing Group
- external identifiers
-
- wos:000313209500021
- scopus:84872189090
- pmid:23223027
- ISSN
- 1008-682X
- DOI
- 10.1038/aja.2012.121
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- c1431809-8252-4d63-8134-8f4b5edb6286 (old id 3481002)
- date added to LUP
- 2016-04-01 10:11:02
- date last changed
- 2022-04-27 19:26:53
@article{c1431809-8252-4d63-8134-8f4b5edb6286,
abstract = {{Several animal studies indicate that mercury is a male reproductive toxicant, but human studies are few and contradictory. We examined semen characteristics and serum levels of reproductive hormones in relation to environmental exposure to mercury. Blood and semen samples were collected from 529 male partners of pregnant women living in Greenland, Poland and Ukraine between May 2002 and February 2004. The median concentration of the total content of mercury in whole blood was 9.2 ng ml(-1) in Greenland (0.2-385.8 ng ml(-1)), 1.0 ng ml(-1) in Poland (0.2-6.4 ng ml(-1)) and 1.0 ng ml(-1) in Ukraine (0.2-4.9 ng ml(-1)). We found a significantly positive association between the blood levels of mercury and serum concentration of inhibin B in men from Greenland (beta=0.074, 95% confidence interval (CI)=0.021 to 0.126) and in an analysis including men from all three regions (beta=0.067, 95% CI=0.024 to 0.110). The association may be due to beneficial effects of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), which are contained in seafood and fish. No significant association (P>0.05) was found between blood concentrations of mercury and any of the other measured semen characteristics (semen volume, total sperm count, sperm concentration, morphology and motility) and reproductive hormones (free androgen index (FAI), follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), luteinizing hormone (LH), testosterone and LHxtestosterone) in any region. In conclusion, the findings do not provide evidence that environmental mercury exposure in Greenlandic and European men with median whole blood concentration up to 10 ng ml(-1) has adverse effects on biomarkers of male reproductive health. Asian Journal of Andrology (2013) 15, 97-104; doi:10.1038/aja.2012.121; published online 10 December 2012}},
author = {{Mocevic, Emina and Specht, Ina O. and Marott, Jacob L. and Giwercman, Aleksander and Jönsson, Bo A and Toft, Gunnar and Lundh, Thomas and Bonde, Jens Peter}},
issn = {{1008-682X}},
keywords = {{blood mercury concentration; environmental mercury exposure; male; fertility; reproduction; reproductive hormones; semen characteristics; semen quality}},
language = {{eng}},
number = {{1}},
pages = {{97--104}},
publisher = {{Nature Publishing Group}},
series = {{Asian Journal of Andrology}},
title = {{Environmental mercury exposure, semen quality and reproductive hormones in Greenlandic Inuit and European men: a cross-sectional study}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/aja.2012.121}},
doi = {{10.1038/aja.2012.121}},
volume = {{15}},
year = {{2013}},
}