Table 3.

Metals in seminal plasma classified by semen parameters according to the WHO reference levels.

	Cu	Zn	Pb	As	Cd	Se
Sperm concentration
≥15×106/ml	137.8 ± 210.1	144.3 ± 103.2	0.6 ± 1.1	7.7 ± 5.7	0.5 ± 0.3	122.6 ± 128.0
<15×106/ml	303.8 ± 258.8	181.4 ± 183.8	<DOL	10.3 ± 10.3	0.8 ± 0.2	179.1 ± 140.3
P value	0.023	0.345	n/a	0.54	0.190	0.267
Motility
≥40%	145.6 ± 307.5	141.1 ± 102.3	0.6 ± 0.4	6.8 ± 5.1	0.4 ± 0.4	96.1 ± 151.0
<40%	146.4 ± 164.8	149.2 ± 106.4	0.7 ± 1.2	8.2 ± 6.1	0.5 ± 0.3	133.1 ± 136.4
P values	0.976	0.803	0.892	0.305	0.375	0.164
Viability
≥58%	160.6 ± 297.9	142.1 ± 101.4	0.6 ± 1.2	6.4 ± 4.7	0.4 ± 0.3	101.1 ± 113.2
<58%	143.0 ± 183.0	146.7 ± 109.5	0.6 ± 0.4	8.0 ± 5.9	0.5 ± 0.3	140.1 ± 133.7
P values	0.697	0.866	0.956	0.377	0.358	0.126
Normal morphology
≥4%	143.4 ± 182.1	148.0 ± 124.5	0.7 ± 1.4	6.9 ± 5.6	0.5 ± 0.4	110.3 ± 142.9
<4%	146.9 ± 220.5	144.5 ± 91.9	0.5 ± 0.2	8.6 ± 6.0	0.5 ± 0.3	138.9 ± 136.5
P values	0.940	0.840	0.547	0.301	0.237	0.188

<DOL: Detection of limit

*N/A: A majority of samples had Pb values below detection limit.

Metal concentration in μg/L