Concentrations of Some Heavy Metals in Preserved Human Tissues, Pb, Cd, Cu and Zn

• Published in: Nippon Eiseigaku Zasshi (Japanese Journal of Hygiene) Vol. 32; no. 6; pp. 691 - 697
• Main Authors: Takata, Tsutomu, Nakamura, Kenichi, Kajizuka, Eiko, Nakano, Junko
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English; Japanese
• Published: Japan The Japanese Society for Hygiene 01.02.1978
• Subjects: Adult; Age Factors; Cadmium - analysis; Copper - analysis; Humans; Kidney - analysis; Lead - analysis; Liver - analysis; Male; Metals - analysis; Middle Aged; Monitoring, Physiologic; Tissue Preservation; Zinc - analysis
• DOI: 10.1265/jjh.32.691
• ISSN: 0021-5082

As a means of ‘biological monitering’ the environmental pollution by heavy metals, the present study was undertaken to evaluate the total body burden of heavy metals on persons who had lived during different periods. On 107 autopsied Japanese males (30∼69 years of age) who had died during the period of 1948∼73, four metal elements (Pb, Cd, Cu and Zn) in the liver, the kidney and the formalin solution in which the organs had been preserved were analyzed by atomic absorption spectrophotometry. No consistent secular trends were observed for Pb and Cu, but significant increases of the body burden caused by Cd and Zn were presumed in the cases that died in recent years and a cohort analysis indicated that the burden of these metals on the body was higher among the cases born during 1910∼19 than those born during 1900∼09. The environmental pollution by Cd or the increased intake of Zn due to the change of food patterns of Japanese in recent years were postulated to be the cause of the afore-mentioned results, but it is considered that further studies are necessary to elucidate the interaction between Cd and Zn in their behavior in the body. It has been supposed that the transference into the formalin solution is profitable for metals with higher concentrations in tissues. Therefore, the evaluation of the absolute body burden of heavy metals based on their concentrations in the preserved tissues is questionable. However, if the metal concentrations in the formalin solution were available, it is considered that the purpose of ‘biological monitering’ should be obtained by a relative comparison of total amount of metals in each container.