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Objective: To evaluate association of blood and seminal plasma lead and cadmium with sperm quality of non-occupationally exposed male partners of couples with infertility.

Materials and methods: 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.

Results: There were 15 azospermics, 22 oligospermics and 36 normospermics. Seminal and blood plasma cadmium as well as blood plasma lead were significantly (p< 0.01) higher in azospermic and oligospermic men compared to normospermic men. However, while seminal plasma lead was …