Contamination of bovine insemination doses with cadmium, copper, lead and zinc and its relation to semen activity

Contamination of bovine insemination doses, used for artificial insemination, with cadmium, copper, lead and zinc as well as its relation to semen activity was investigated. Analysis by atomic absorption spectrophotometry (AAS) of cadmium showed that the average concentration was 0.0058 mg/kg. The concentration of copper was in the range of 0.2 - 1.0 mg/kg with the average value of 0.515 mg/kg. Contamination of bovine insemination doses reached the average value of 0.320 mg/kg and the concentration of zinc reached 6.5 - 14.2 mg/kg with the average level of 8.645 mg/kg. The analysis of semen activity showed that the semen was of good quality before freezing - Activity 1 (39.75 +/- 8.11%) as well as after freezing - Activity 2 (34.25 +/- 5.68%). Correlation analysis determined a high correlation relationship of the semen activity before and after freezing (P<0.0005). The correlation of semen activity to cadmium, copper, lead and zinc was very low. On the other hand the high correlation relationship between cadmium and lead (P<0.0001), cadmium and copper (P<0.0002) and copper and lead (P<0.0005) was found.