Element reference values in tissues from inhabitants of the European community. VI. Review of elements in blood, plasma and urine and a critical evaluation of reference values for the United Kingdom population

doi:10.1016/0048-9697(94)90057-4

Science of The Total Environment

Volume 158, 18 December 1994, Pages 165-190

https://doi.org/10.1016/0048-9697(94)90057-4 Get rights and content

Abstract

Reference values for the concentration of elements in whole blood for the UK population are presented together with estimates for concentrations in plasma and urine. The blood data, when compared with other values obtained for Belgium, Denmark and Italy, obtained through the EURO-Terviht programme of the European Union, together with data from other countries, indicate similar concentrations. The data provide a basis for identifying the expected levels for the non-occupational exposed population against which differences attributable to various states of well-being, morbidity and mortality can be evaluated. However, it is also apparent that significant differences do exist which are related to geography and diet. In order to consider these differences, further improvements in the determination of elements in human tissues and fluids are required. Particular attention should be paid to that proportion of an element in the environment which is bioavailable together with its toxicity.

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Maintenance of intracellular metal homeostasis during interaction with host niches is critical to the success of bacterial pathogens. To prevent infection, the mammalian innate immune response employs metal-withholding and metal-intoxication mechanisms to limit bacterial propagation. The first-row transition metal ion copper serves critical roles at the host-pathogen interface and has been associated with antimicrobial activity since antiquity. Despite lacking any known copper-utilizing proteins, streptococci have been reported to accumulate significant levels of copper. Here, we report that loss of CopA, a copper-specific exporter, confers increased sensitivity to copper in Streptococcus pyogenes strain HSC5, with prolonged exposure to physiological levels of copper resulting in reduced viability during stationary phase cultivation. This defect in stationary phase survival was rescued by supplementation with exogeneous amino acids, indicating the pathogen had altered nutritional requirements during exposure to copper stress. Furthermore, S. pyogenes HSC5 ΔcopA was substantially attenuated during murine soft-tissue infection, demonstrating the importance of copper efflux at the host-pathogen interface. Collectively, these data indicate that copper can severely reduce the viability of stationary phase S. pyogenes and that active efflux mechanisms are required to survive copper stress in vitro and during infection.
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Important differences between the concentrations of some metals found in this baseline study and those reported in previous surveys, conducted elsewhere, were noticed. In general terms, the levels of Cd and Mn were higher in this study, those of Pb were notably lower, while the concentrations of Cr, Hg, Ni and Sn were of the same order than the references values reported in various countries (Iyengar and Woittiez, 1988; Minoia et al., 1992; Hamilton et al., 1994; Cornelis et al., 1994). In September 2002, blood samples were again collected from 90 men and 90 women, also aged >16 years and living in the same 3 residential zones near the.
During the period 1996–1998, a hazardous waste incinerator (HWI) was built in Constantí (Tarragona County, Catalonia, Spain). Because of the potential adverse effects of toxic emissions, mainly metals and dioxins and furans, waste incinerators in general have been an important cause of concern for the public opinion. For that reason, to assess its environmental impact on the surroundings, as well as the potential human health risks of the HWI, environmental and biological monitoring studies have been carried out since 1996–1998, when the baseline concentrations were established. This article summarizes all the results corresponding to metals in biological tissues of the population living near the HWI, two decades after the construction of the facility. In 1996–1998, the baseline concentrations of a number of elements (As, Be, Cd, Cr, Hg, Mn, Ni, Pb, Sn, Tl and V) were determined in samples of hair, blood and autopsy tissues (bone, brain, liver, lung and kidney) of subjects living in the area. In successive 5-year periods, new surveys were conducted to periodically measure the levels of metals in the same biological tissues. The daily dietary intake of these metals was also estimated for the population of the area. The results of this surveillance program do no suggest additional adverse health risks of metals for the population living near the HWI. However, special attention should be paid to Cr, due not only to the increases of this element observed in most analyzed biological tissues, but also in its dietary intake.
A comparative study of the typical toxic metals in serum by patients of schizophrenia and healthy controls in China
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To our knowledge, comprehensive investigations of toxic metals in serum are rare in patients with schizophrenia, and existing studies have reported on the levels of only certain metals in human serum. Compared with previous studies on toxic metals in China and other countries or regions (Alimonti et al., 1997; Alimonti et al., 2007; Avino et al., 2011; Bazzi et al., 2005; Cai et al., 2015; Goullé et al., 2005; Hamilton et al., 1994; Heitland and Köster, 2006; Lin et al., 2017; Minoia et al., 1990; Guo et al., 2013; Wang et al., 2015), even though different populations, detection methods, and geographic distributions were examined, which may have impacted the overall results, the results of the present study are applicable to the general population, especially the Chinese population. Moreover, the schizophrenic patients in the present study had relatively high serum concentrations of antimony and uranium compared with healthy controls, supporting the results of previous research (Lin et al., 2017; Guo et al., 2013).
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The EURO TERVIHT project (Trace Elements Reference Values in Human Tissues) was started in 1980s for evaluating, checking, and suggesting harmonized procedures for the establishment of trace element reference intervals in body fluids and tissues (Minoia et al., 1990; Iversen et al., 2003). Therefore, RVs or basic statistical parameters of trace elements in urine samples collected from healthy adults have been published for many European countries, such as Italy (Minoia et al., 1990), Denmark (Poulsen et al., 1994; Kristiansen et al., 1997), Hungary (Zeiner et al., 2004), Czech and Slovak (Kučera et al., 1995), France (Goullé et al., 2005), Austria (Zeiner et al., 2006), Belgium (Cornelis et al., 1994; Hoet et al., 2013), the UK (Hamilton et al., 1994; White and Sabbioni, 1998; Morton et al., 2014), and Norway (Birgisdottir et al., 2013). Compared to adults, there is less literature about RVs or basic statistical parameters for children.
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Element reference values in tissues from inhabitants of the European community. VI. Review of elements in blood, plasma and urine and a critical evaluation of reference values for the United Kingdom population

Abstract

Sci. Total Environ.

Sci. Total Environ.

Sci. Total Environ.

Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta

Sci. Total Environ.

Sci. Total Environ.

Sci. Total Environ.

Int. J. Mass Spectrom. Ion Phys.

Sci. Total Environ.

Sci. Total Environ.

Sci. Total Environ.

Sci. Total Environ.

Sci. Total Environ.

New developments in NBS biological and clinical standards and reference materials

Comparative elemental analysis of a standard plant material

Analyst

Kale as a reference material

Measurements of 232-Th in normal and industrially exposed humans

Ann. Occup. Hyg.

The rare-earth elements in seawater

Nature

Sci. Total Environ.

A cooperative investigation of precision and accuracy in chemical, Spectrochemical and Modal analysis of silicate rocks

US Geol. Surv. Bull.

The uranium content of the differentiated skaergaard intrusion

Medd. Om Grønland. B d 1622. Nr 7

The registration of charged particles in solids: an alternative to autoradiographs in the life sciences

Int. J. Appl. Radiat. Isot.

Uranium content of normal blood

Nature

The concentration and distribution of uranium in human skeletal tissues

Calc. Tissue Res.

The concentration of uranium in man and his diet

Health Phys.

The Chemical Elements and Man

The need for trace element analyses of biological materials in the environmental sciences

Analysis of Trace Elements I: Sample Treatment and Laboratory Quality Control

The Periodic Table of the elements: geochemical and biochemical associations

Irradiated cells

Nature

Abundance of the chemical elements in man's diet and possible relations with environmental factors

Sci. Total Environ.