Are blood, urine, hair, and muscle valid biomonitors for the internal burden of men with the heavy metals mercury, lead and cadmium? An investigation on 150 deceased
Drasch, G; Wanghofer, E; Roider, G
To determine the interpretation potential of blood, urine, hair, and muscle concentration for monitoring the internal burden of men with mercury (Hg), lead (Pb), and cadmium (Cd) from 150 deceased samples of these biomonitors and from the target and storage tissues (cerebrum, cerebellum, kidney, liver, pelvic bone, temporal bone) were taken at autopsy. In no case was a special (e.g. occupational burden) known. The heavy metal concentrations were determined by AAS, and the results correlated. It was concluded, that for the so-called normal population the interpretation potential of heavy metal concentrations in blood, urine, hair, and muscle must be qualified: on a group basis, they can provide us with some useful information under the limitation that not every monitor is suitable for every metal (for instance hair not for Cd or Pb). But despite statistical significant rank correlation, in any case the confidence intervals of the regressions are so large that it is rather pointless to conclude the heavy metal burden of the target or storage tissue of an individual from the concentration in blood, muscle, urine, or hair. In comparison to the poor correlation of Cd, Pb, and Hg between hair and tissue the strong correlation of Hg in hair and brain (cerebrum as cerebellum) is striking. This may be explained by the high lipophily of elemental Hg vapor and short-chain Hg alkyl compounds: it is known that lipophilic compounds penetrate as quickly in the brain as in the root of the hair. But this mechanism may also explain why for Hg in the kidney, as for Cd and Pb in all tissues under investigation, hair cannot be an appropriate biomonitor: because in these cases the metals are taken up in the tissues as hydrophile ions or complexes.