Determination of selected chlorinated pesticides, bound and free, in human semen

The content of chlorinated pesticide residues and their metabolites in semen specimens from 44 random donors was studied. Forty-four ejaculates were mixed to make a pool of semen and recovery studies were made on five-gram samples. A previously developed technique was modified for compounds free and bound with endogenous substances in human semen, a body fluid which contains genetic material. The new procedure is characterized by very good recoveries (>90%) and standard deviation (S.D.) less than 6.5 for fortified samples of semen following incubation. It requires simple, easily available, and inexpensive reagents which make the method an adequate, precise, and reasonably cheap tool, applicable in a wide range of laboratories.