ReviewOccupational and environmental medicine1998
Male reproductive toxicity of lead in animals and humans. ASCLEPIOS Study Group.
Review in Occupational and environmental medicine, 1998. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 40 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
40 citing papers in PubMed, 210 citations in OpenAlex.
- Endocrine Disrupting Agents: Toxicological Aspects on Male Reproduction.Reproductive sciences (Thousand Oaks, Calif.) · 2025Review
- Article
- Risk Assessment of Impairment of Fertility Due to Exposure to Tobacco Constituents Classified as Reprotoxicants.Toxics · 2025Article
- Comparison of Siglec-1 protein networks and expression patterns in sperm and male reproductive tracts of mice, rats, and humans.Veterinary world · 2024Article
- Zinc improves sexual performance and erectile function by preventing penile oxidative injury and upregulating circulating testosterone in lead-exposed rats.Redox report : communications in free radical research · 2023Article
- Article
- Taurine Improves Sperm Mitochondrial Indices, Blunts Oxidative Stress Parameters, and Enhances Steroidogenesis and Kinematics of Sperm in Lead-Exposed Mice.Reproductive sciences (Thousand Oaks, Calif.) · 2023Article
- Occupation and Semen Parameters in a Cohort of Fertile Men.Journal of occupational and environmental medicine · 2022Article
- Basophilic stippling in red blood cells in the bone marrow: indication for lead poisoning diagnosis.The Journal of international medical research · 2022Article
- Effect of Copper Sulphate and Cadmium Chloride on Non-Human Primate Sperm Function In Vitro.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021Article
- Ameliorative effects of deferiprone and tetraethylammonium salt of salinomycinic acid on lead-induced toxicity in mouse testes.Environmental science and pollution research international · 2021Article
- Metal Accumulation Using a Bacterium (K-142) Identified from Environmental Microorganisms by the Screening of Au Nanoparticles Synthesis.Materials (Basel, Switzerland) · 2020Article
- Effects of Cadmium, Lead, and Mercury on the Structure and Function of Reproductive Organs.Toxics · 2020Review
- Dietary Patterns Are Not Consistently Associated with Variability in Blood Lead Concentrations in Pregnant British Women.The Journal of nutrition · 2019Article
- Potential use of lactic acid bacteria Leuconostoc mesenteroides as a probiotic for the removal of Pb(II) toxicity.Journal of microbiology (Seoul, Korea) · 2017Article
- Exome-wide association study identifies genetic polymorphisms of C12orf51, MYL2, and ALDH2 associated with blood lead levels in the general Korean population.Environmental health : a global access science source · 2017Article
- Risk Assessment to Evaluate if Crayons Complying with the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 for Lead, Also Comply with California Proposition 65.Frontiers in public health · 2017Article
- Lead toxicity: a review.Interdisciplinary toxicology · 2015Review
- Girl or boy? Prenatal lead, cadmium and mercury exposure and the secondary sex ratio in the ALSPAC study.Reproductive toxicology (Elmsford, N.Y.) · 2014Article
- Gene-environment interactions between JAZF1 and occupational and household lead exposure in prostate cancer among African American men.Cancer causes & control : CCC · 2014Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveTo critically review the literature on male reproductive toxicity of lead in animals and humans.
methodsA systematic literature search identified a total of 32 experimental studies in animals and 22 epidemiological studies, one case report on humans and five review articles or documents. The studies were evaluated by paying attention mainly to sample size, study design, exposure, and dose characterisation, analytical method standardisation, and quality assurance.
resultsSeveral studies on rats and other rodents indicated that blood lead concentrations > 30-40 micrograms/dl were associated with impairment of spermatogenesis and reduced concentrations of androgens. However, other animal studies, mainly about histopathological, spermatozoal, and hormonal end points, indicated that certain species and strains were quite resistant to the reproductive toxicity of lead and that different testicular lead concentrations could account for these differences. The human studies focused mainly on semen quality, endocrine function, and birth rates in occupationally exposed subjects, and showed that exposure to concentrations of inorganic lead > 40 micrograms/dl in blood impaired male reproductive function by reducing sperm count, volume, and density, or changing sperm motility and morphology. No relevant effects were detected on endocrine profile.
conclusionSeveral factors make it difficult to extrapolate the animal data to the human situation. The difficulties are mainly due to differences between species in reproductive end points and to the level of exposure. Concentrations of blood lead > 40 micrograms/dl seemed to be associated with a decrease in sperm count, volume, motility, and morphological alterations and a possible modest effect on endocrine profile. Dose-response relation, in particular at a threshold level, is poorly understood, and site, mode, or mechanism of action are unknown. Also, the effects were not always the same or associated in the same on sperm count and concentration. Some methodological issues and indications for future studies are discussed.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.