Occupational heavy metals causing

The reproductive systems of both males and females can be harmed by particular chemicals. In males certain chemicals cause the testes to atrophy and reduce or eliminate their capacity to produce sperm. Particularly striking in this regard is a now banned but once widely used pesticide called DBCP, residues of which persist in ground water supplies in a few regions of the country. Its pronounced impact on spermatogenesis is readily detectable in experimental animals and, unfortunately, has also been observed in some men once occupation-ally exposed to large amounts. The heavy metal cadmium is another substance effective at reducing sperm production. 

Of the heavy metals, mercury has medical, socioeconomic, and environmental importance second only to lead. The most publicized cases of mercury poisoning have occurred in industrial settings. Table 10-1 lists the numerous occupations at risk for mercury exposure. By 1957, 80 industries used mercury for 3,000 purposes (Bidstrup 1964). The expression from Lewis Carroll s Alice in Wonderland, mad as a hatter, likely portrayed erethism, a condition caused by mercury poisoning of European and American hatters who used mercury to pack fur into watertight fabric. Acrodynia was another mercury-associated illness usually diagnosed in children taking mercury-based medications. 

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