Gold jewelry and fertility issues

[rtx1985]

Hello!
According to recent studies, gold nanoparticles play a negative role on male fertility (reducing the motility of sperm cells, among other things),
So, the question is, is the amount of gold absorded from donning gold jewerly enough to have noticeable spermatotoxic effects?

 

[f95toli]

Probably not.
The dangers/properties of nanoparticles are very different from that of bulk materials. Carbon nanotubes are very nasty and need to be handled very carefully whereas a lump of charcoal is not nearly as bad. It is not the material itself that is dangerous: it is the combination of size and shape.
Another example is asbestos which is a silicate material which is the most common class of materials on earth. Fortunately, most of them are not nearly as dangerous as asbestos.

Also, making gold nanoparticles is not straightforward even in the lab; I doubt any could spontaneously form from a piece of jewellery under normal circumstances.
Gold is extremely inert and should be one of the safest materials to use for jewellery.

 

[jim mcnamara]

Gold has been used in dental applications a long time: since 1530, for example. The Etruscans used gold wire to hold replacement teeth in place.

https://www.azom.com/article.aspx?ArticleID=5018

What is your source for this comment? 'Recent studies' is not an acceptable answer. Please give us a link. I am going to close the thread otherwise - per PF rules. We do not debunk oddball scientific claims.

 

[Vanadium 50]

Gold has been used in dental applications a long time

And in jewelry for an even longer time. And there are billions of people here today.

 

[rtx1985]

Thanks for your answers.
Here's an example of studies about the spermatotoxicity of gold nanoparticles:
1) Liu Y et al, 2020, "The Effects of Gold Nanoparticles on Leydig Cells and Male Reproductive Function in Mice", International Journal of Nanomedicine, Vol. 15, Dovepress.
2) Nazar et al, 2016, "Acute and chronic effects of gold nanoparticles on sperm parameters and chromatin structure in Mice", Int J Reprod Biomed, NCBI.
3) Taylor et al, 2014, "Gold nanoparticles interfere with sperm functionality by membrane adsorption without penetration", Nanotoxicology, Vol. 8, Taylor & Francis.

 

[jim mcnamara]

Calling @TeethWhitener -- Can you shed some light on this subject?

 

[TeethWhitener]

I can’t really add too much. I know there’s been a fair amount of work linking nanoparticles of many materials with varying degrees of cytotoxicity, so it’s not much of a stretch to believe that gold nanoparticles could affect fertility. But as others have pointed out, gold jewelry is not a source of gold nanoparticles, so there’s not much to worry about there.

 

[Sayed Inam]

Gold has been used in dental applications a long time: since 1530, for example. The Etruscans used gold wire to hold replacement teeth in place.

https://www.azom.com/article.aspx?ArticleID=5018

What is your source for this comment? 'Recent studies' is not an acceptable answer. Please give us a link. I am going to close the thread otherwise - per PF rules. We do not debunk oddball scientific claims.

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&sou...IQFnoECB8QAQ&usg=AOvVaw0uqX4k_fYhhngtje-1AhIS