Gold in human semen around and away from a gold deposit area.

摘要

The study included evaluation of semen from normal, healthy adults and estimation of gold in seminal plasma from two regions Nilambur valley (Malappuram District, Kerala Province, India; n = 11), where gold deposit is present and Kollam town (Kerala Province, India; n = 13) where gold is not present in soil. All samples showed normal spermiogram. Gold was estimated in seminal plasma by employing inductively coupled plasma emission spectrophotometry. It varied from 0.23-1.15 ppm with mean 0.68 ppm in study area while in control area it was 0.13-0.71 ppm with a mean of 0.41 ppm. Statistical studies (independent 't' test) showed significantly high level (p < 0.05) of gold in seminal plasma from study area. ANOVA test proved that gold in seminal plasma is a significant (p < 0.05) factor for total spermatozoa count and its percentage of motility.