Carminia Marina Ingenito
Italy
Research Article
Heavy Metals in Semen of Oligospermic Patients without Known Etiologic Factors
Author(s): Anna Flavia Rispoli, Guglielmo Stabile, Carminia Marina Ingenito, Mariano StabileAnna Flavia Rispoli, Guglielmo Stabile, Carminia Marina Ingenito, Mariano Stabile
Environmental contaminants, heavy metals and pesticides, could be a cause for oligoasthenospermia. Analyses of
the five heavy metals (Pb, Cd, Hg, Ni, and Cu) have showed values that are above the normal range in oligospermic
patients in a selected group. We used blood values to ascertain reference values for heavy metal concentrations, as
there is a lack of baseline values for seminal plasma in previously published papers. Three recent research projects in
the same area of southern Italy (“Land of fires” in Campania and Sicily) have shown correlation between environmental
pollution from heavy metals and oligospermia. At the Zygote Center in Salerno (Campania, Italy), a group comprising
200 couples with fertility problems was monitored over a 2-year period. A group of eight oligospermic men was selected
according to the following criteria: (1) absence of genetic factors; (2) ab.. View More»