Association between jewelry-wearing practices and female hormone levels

Background. Exposure to metals through everyday consumer products, including jewelry, may influence endocrine function, but evidence regarding female hormone levels is limited. Methods. This cross-sectional study included 125 women aged 17–45 years from Basrah, Iraq, categorized into four groups: women who did not wear jewelry (G1, n = 50), women who wore fake (nickel-containing) jewelry daily (G2, n = 27), women who wore gold jewelry irregularly (G3, n = 26), and women who wore gold jewelry daily (G4, n = 22). Blood samples were collected during the mid-cycle phase. Serum levels of follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), luteinizing hormone (LH), estrogen (E2), progesterone, serotonin (5-HT), and oxytocin were measured using ELISA. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS. Results. No statistically significant differences were observed among groups for FSH, LH, or oxytocin levels (p > 0.05). Estrogen levels differed significantly between the control group and women wearing gold jewelry irregularly (p = 0.000) or regularly (p = 0.005), as well as between the fake jewelry group and both gold jewelry groups (p = 0.001 and p = 0.010, respectively). Progesterone levels showed a significant difference only between the control group and the fake jewelry group (p = 0.045). Serotonin levels were significantly higher in women wearing jewelry compared with controls, including comparisons between G1 and G2 (p = 0.007), G1 and G3 (p = 0.000), and G1 and G4 (p = 0.000), while no difference was observed between irregular and regular gold jewelry wearers (p = 0.374). Conclusion. Wearing gold jewelry was associated with modest but statistically significant variations in estrogen and serotonin levels, whereas no consistent effects were observed for FSH, LH, progesterone, or oxytocin. These findings should be interpreted cautiously given the cross-sectional design and exploratory nature of the study. Further longitudinal studies with refined exposure assessment are warranted.