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MERCURY
2.2.1.5 Reproductive Effects
2. HEALTH EFFECTS
Metallic Mercury. No acute-duration exposure data were located regarding reproductive effects in humans
after inhalation exposure to metallic mercury. However, several studies found no effect on fertility
following intermediate or chronic inhalation exposure to metallic mercury in humans (Alcser et al. 1989;
Cordier et al. 1991; Lauwerys et al. 1985). A retrospective cohort study reported that male workers in a
U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) plant exposed for at least 4 months had urinary mercury concentrations
of 2,144–8,572 µg/L (Alcser et al. 1989). This sample population showed no significant difference in
fertility compared to controls (unexposed workers); however, they were never monitored for elemental
mercury exposure. In a questionnaire study assessing the fertility of male workers exposed to mercury
vapor from various industries (i.e., zinc-mercury amalgam, chloralkali, or electrical equipment product
plants), there was no statistically significant difference in the number of children of the exposed group
compared to a matched control group (Lauwerys et al. 1985). The concentration of mercury in the urine of
these exposed workers ranged from 5.1 to 272.1 µg/g creatinine. No correlation was observed between
prolactin, testosterone, luteinizing hormone, and follicle stimulating hormone levels and blood or urine
mercury levels in male workers exposed to mercury vapors (Erfurth et al. 1990; McGregor and Mason
1991). Also, no effect on the response of these hormones to challenge with gonadotropin releasing
hormone was observed (Erfurth et al. 1990).
Although no effect on fertility was observed in exposed workers, an increase in the rate of spontaneous
abortions was reported in association with increased mercury concentrations in the urine of the fathers
exposed to metallic mercury in chloralkali plants before the pregnancy (Cordier et al. 1991). There was a
significantly increased risk of spontaneous abortion, at a rate of 18.4%, when fathers had more than
50 µg/L mercury in the urine, compared to a rate of 8.6% when fathers were unexposed. Sikorski et al.
1987) reported that women occupationally exposed to metallic mercury vapors (dentists and dental
assistants) had more reproductive failures (spontaneous abortions, stillbirths, congenital malformations) and
irregular, painful, or hemorrhagic menstrual disorders than a control (unexposed) group of women. The
reproductive difficulties and menstrual disorders were correlated with mercury levels identified in scalp and
pubic hair collected from the women. It should be noted that this study has been recently severely criticized
for what Larsson (1995) calls "erroneous interpretation of results and distortion of conclusions." The
Sikorski et al. (1987) paper is nonetheless presented in this toxicological profile as part of the available
published data on reported human mercury exposure. Its presence here is based upon its publication in a
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