Infertility Among Men Increased
Cadmium in cigarette smoke and industrial effluents are increasing infertility among men, a study conducted by the fertility centre of a leading hospital here has revealed. The research was done because of high and alarming rate of infertility among young healthy men, Dr Kannagi Utharaj, director of the centre in Kovai Medical Centre and Hospital, said.
According to the study, conducted in assistance with the Department of Environmental Sciences of Bharathiar University, the infertility rate among young professionals was on the rise in the western districts of Tamil Nadu, since more than 1,000 foundry units were producing over 40,000 tonnes of casting every month in the region. The accumulation of metals such as cadmium, lead, chromium and nickel in the blood and semen of 62 'infertile' men were studied in detail for the research, Kannagi said.
The semen samples of these infertile men, in the age group of 25-40, whose professions ranged from white collar jobs to agriculture, living in the districts of Coimbatore, Erode and Tirupur were analysed for heavy metals. Alongside, samples of 75 fertile men were also taken up for comparison, she said. The study could be a wake up call for the industrial belts, which clearly showed that infertile men had significantly higher deposits of cadmium in their blood samples. The infertile men had higher cadmium levels, which could be a pointer to the "link between industrial pollution and infertility among men," Kanngi said.
