Assessment of additional health risk for men caused by the pituitary-gonadal axis deregulation under long-term combined exposure to airborne metals in fine- and ultra-dispersed particles (PM2.5 and smaller)

UDC: 
613.97
DOI: 
10.21668/health.risk/2026.2.04.eng
Authors: 

М.А. Zemlyanova, Yu.V. Koldibekova, О.V. Pustovalova, N.V. Zaitseva

Organization: 

Federal Scientific Center for Medical and Preventive Health Risk Management Technologies, 82 Monastyrskaya Str., Perm, 614045, Russian Federation

Abstract: 

Long-term exposure to a mixture of airborne metals (lead, chromium, cobalt, nickel, copper, and others) in PM2.5 and smaller creates persistent exposure in residential areas in close proximity to industrial enterprises. Its effects on the pituitary-gonadal (PG) axis, the key spermatogenesis regulator in men, have been studied only fragmentarily. It is necessary to analyze pathogenesis of the axis destabilization upon exposure to these particles considering their composition in order to quantify the additional reproductive risk and raise effectiveness of male infertility
prevention.

We examined 255 men; among them, 139 lived in an area exposed to industrial emissions with metals in PM2.5and smaller (cobalt, manganese, nickel, lead, chromium, and copper) and 116 were unexposed. Metals and fin-dispersed particles were identified in ambient air, whole blood, supernatant, and solid residue (ICP-MS); the PG axis hormones, in blood serum. Statistical analysis (Statistica 12.5) included logistic regression and additional risk calculation.

The PM2.5 and smaller particles accounted for 71.3 % in the analyzed area exposed to emission form a metallurgical plant (2023–2025). Overall, their proportion exceeded the safe level by 2.1 times and the reference group indicator by 3.3 times (р = 0.0001). Ni, Pb, Mn, Cr, Cu, and Со were identified in the analyzed particles (Cu, Ni, up to 73 % of the РМ1 mass; Ni, Cr, up to 27 % of the РМ2.5 mass). Exposure to the sum of РМ2.5 and smaller particles amounted to 0.022 mg/(kg∙day) (65 % of the total exposure to suspended particles). Levels of the analyzed metals in blood and its fractions were higher in the exposed men against the reference group and the reference levels by up to 7.0 times (р = 0.0001–0.011). We found hypersecretion of the luteinizing hormone (up to 1.4 times, р = 0.038), associated with Cr, Cu, Со in solid blood residue, and a decline in free testosterone (by 1.5 times, р = 0.015), associated with Ni and Cr. The additional reproductive risk induced by the PG axis deregulation was 25.5 times higher than the permissible level (‘high’ risk).

Long-term exposure to Ni, Cr, Mn, Cu, Co in РМ2.5 and smaller destabilizes the PG axis creating a high additional risk of male infertility by disrupting hormonal control of spermatogenesis. To objectively assess these risks and raise effectiveness of measures aimed at their mitigation, it is advisable to include detailed elemental analysis of fine- and ultra-dispersed ambient particles in residential areas in monitoring and biomonitoring programs.

Keywords: 
metals in PM2.5 and smaller, ambient air, males, deregulation of the pituitary-gonadal (PG) axis, infertility, pathogenetic pathways, additional risk, biomonitoring
Zemlyanova М.А., Koldibekova Yu.V., Pustovalova О.V., Zaitseva N.V. Assessment of additional health risk for men caused by the pituitary-gonadal axis deregulation under long-term combined exposure to airborne metals in fine- and ultra-dispersed particles (PM2.5 and smaller). Health Risk Analysis, 2026, no. 2, pp. 42–53. DOI: 10.21668/health.risk/2026.2.04.eng
References: 
  1. Arkhangelskiy V.N., Kozlova O.A., Kalachikova O.N. The importance of research on reproductive intentions for fertility forecasting. Economic and Social Changes: Facts, Trends, Forecast, 2025, vol. 18, no. 3, pp. 223–235. DOI: 10.15838/esc.2025.3.99.12
  2. Natsun L.N. Women's of reproductive age health. Society and security insights, 2020, vol. 3, no. 3, pp. 167–181. DOI: 10.14258/ssi(2020)3-12 (in Russian).
  3. Gladkaya V.S., Gritsinskaya V.L., Medvedeva N.N. The modern trends in reproductive health and reproductive be-havior of the female population in Russia. Mat’ i ditya v Kuzbasse, 2017, no. 1 (68), pp. 10–15 (in Russian).
  4. Lychagin A.S., Malinina O.Yu. Miscarriage: the role of male factor and the methods of treatment. Problemy repro-duktsii, 2017, vol. 23, no. 5, pp. 106–114. DOI: 10.17116/repro2017235106-114 (in Russian).
  5. Hussain T., Metwally E., Murtaza G., Kalhoro D.H., Chughtai M.I., Tan B., Omur A.D., Tunio S.A. [et al.]. Redox mechanisms of environmental toxicants on male reproductive function. Front. Cell Dev. Biol., 2024, vol. 12, pp. 1333845. DOI: 10.3389/fcell.2024.1333845
  6. Tatli S.P., Iflazoglu M.S., Seven I., Arkali G., Ozer K.S., Kanmaz O.E. Protective role of yeast beta-glucan on lead acetate-induced hepatic and reproductive toxicity in rats. Environ. Sci. Pollut. Res. Int., 2021, vol. 28, no. 38, pp. 53668–53678. DOI: 10.1007/s11356-021-14398-0
  7. Zhu Q., Li X., Ge R.-S. Toxicological Effects of Cadmium on Mammalian Testis. Front. Genet., 2020, vol. 11, pp. 527. DOI: 10.3389/fgene.2020.00527
  8. Iztleuov Y.M., Dushmanov A.Z., Iztleuova G.M., Iztleuov M.K., Imanbayev N.M. Effect of heavy metals and anti-sperm antibodies on male infertility: A literature review. Reproductive Medicine (Central Asia), 2025, no. 3, pp. 482. DOI: 10.37800/RM.3.2025.482
  9. Fesenko M.A., Golovaneva G.V., Miteleva T.Yu. Reproductive disorders in male workers under the influence of a chemical production factor. Meditsina truda i promyshlennaya ekologiya, 2024, vol. 64, no. 8, pp. 531–541. DOI: 10.31089/1026-9428-2024-64-8-531-541 (in Russian).
  10. Rimauro J., Napolitano G., Fasciolo G., Venditti P., Riccio A., Chianese E. Study on toxicity and bioavailability of metals from urban PM2.5 and PM10 extracted in simulated biological fluids: in vitro and in vivo assessment. Ecotoxicol. Environ. Saf., 2025, vol. 302, pp. 118707. DOI: 10.1016/j.ecoenv.2025.118707
  11. Jomova K., Alomar S.Y., Nepovimova E., Kuca K., Valko M. Heavy metals: toxicity and human health effects. Arch. Toxicol., 2025, vol. 99, no. 1, pp. 153–209. DOI: 10.1007/s00204-024-03903-2
  12. Krupnova T.G., Rakova O.V., Bondarenko K.A., Saifullin A.F., Popova D.A., Potgieter-Vermaak S., Godoi R.H.M. Elemental Composition of PM2.5 and PM10 and Health Risks Assessment in the Industrial Districts of Chelyabinsk, South Ural Region, Russia. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health, 2021, vol. 18, no. 23, pp. 12354. DOI: 10.3390/ijerph182312354
  13. Hadrup N., Vogel U., Jacobsen N.R. Biokinetics of inhaled silver, gold, copper oxide, and zinc oxide nanoparticles: a review. Nanotoxicology, 2025, vol. 19, no. 3, pp. 259–289. DOI: 10.1080/17435390.2025.2476994
  14. Falaiye O.A., Nwabachili S., Orosun M.M., Ajibola T.B., Abiye O.E., Ijila P.O. Probabilistic assessment of temporal cancer risk from cadmium and arsenic in PM2.5 in the university of Ilorin area. Discov. Atmos., 2025, vol. 3, pp. 27. DOI: 10.1007/s44292-025-00050-w
  15. Nwabachili S., Falaiye O., Orosun M., Adeniran J. Potentially toxic metals, source apportionment, meteorological impacts and health risks assessment of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) over Ilorin, Nigeria. Sci. Rep., 2025, vol. 15, no. 1, pp. 45649. DOI: 10.1038/s41598-025-30228-6
  16. Ma Y., Hu C., Cai G., Xia Q., Fan D., Cao Y., Pan F. Associations of exposure to ambient fine particulate matter con-stituents from different pollution sources with semen quality: Evidence from a prospective cohort. Environ. Pollut., 2024, vol. 343, pp. 123200. DOI: 10.1016/j.envpol.2023.123200
  17. Zemlyanova M.A., Perezhogin A.N., Koldibekova Yu.V. Trends detected in children’s health and their relation with basic aerogenic risk factors under exposure to specific ambient air contamination caused by metallurgic and wood-processing enterprises. Health Risk Analysis, 2020, no. 4, pp. 46–53. DOI: 10.21668/health.risk/2020.4.05.eng
  18. Chen H., Yan Y., Hu D., Peng L., Wang C. PM2.5-bound heavy metals in a typical industrial city of Changzhi in North China: Pollution sources and health risk assessment. Atmospheric Environment, 2024, vol. 321, pp. 120344. DOI: 10.1016/J.ATMOSENV.2024.120344
  19. Verma R.L., Gunawardhana L., Kamyotra J.S., Ambade B., Kurwadkar S. Air quality trends in coastal industrial clus-ters of Tamil Nadu, India: A comparison with major Indian cities. Environmental Advances, 2023, vol. 13, pp. 100412. DOI: 10.1016/J.ENVADV.2023.100412
  20. Trusov P.V., Tsinker М.Yu., Zaitseva N.V., Nurislamov V.V., Svintsova P.D., Kuchukov А.I. Assessing spatial dis-tribution of sites with a risk of developing bronchopulmonary pathology based on mathematical modeling of air-dust flows in the human airways and lungs. Health Risk Analysis, 2024, no. 2, pp. 141–152. DOI: 10.21668/health.risk/2024.2.13.eng
  21. Cipoli Y.A., Furst L., Feliciano M., Alveset C. Respiratory deposition dose of PM2.5 and PM10 during night and day periods at an urban environment. Air Qual. Atmos. Health, 2023, vol. 16, pp. 2269–2283. DOI: 10.1007/s11869-023-01405-1
  22. Plunk E.C., Richards S.M. Endocrine-Disrupting Air Pollutants and Their Effects on the Hypothalamus-Pituitary-Gonadal Axis. Int. J. Mol. Sci., 2020, vol. 21, no. 23, pp. 9191. DOI: 10.3390/ijms21239191
  23. Gyengesi E., Paxinos G., Andrews Z.B. Oxidative Stress in the Hypothalamus: the Importance of Calcium Signaling and Mitochondrial ROS in Body Weight Regulation. Curr. Neuropharmacol., 2012, vol. 10, no. 4, pp. 344–353. DOI: 10.2174/157015912804143496
Received: 
29.04.2026
Approved: 
21.05.2026
Accepted for publication: 
27.06.2026

You are here

Home