Table 1.

Comparison of the range of cadmium levels in blood and seminal plasma among three populations of men.^a

Cadmium source	Subjects	n/n′	Median	Interquartile range	Minimum	Maximum		Kruskal–Wallis test P value
Blood plasma
	Group 1: infertility patients	91/91	0.748b	0.545–0.748	0.132	0.944	}	<0.001
	Group 2: AI donors	14/23	0.112	0.096–0.126	0.065	0.161
	Group 3: general population volunteers	35/37	0.099	0.095–0.124	0.063	0.145
Seminal plasma
	Group 1: infertility patients	132/225	0.282b	0.241–0.348	0.091	0.692	}	<0.001
	Group 2: AI donors	14/53	0.091	0.073–0.102	0.039	0.190
	Group 3: general population volunteers	35/76	0.092	0.080–0.111	0.039	0.163

^aSamples were assayed in triplicate for cadmium and lead by graphite furnace atomic absorption spectroscopy. Results are presented in micrograms per liter. n′ = Total number of observations.

^bPairwise comparisons obtained using Dunn’s method indicate that the range of cadmium levels in IVF patients differed significantly from the other two populations.