Abstract
The rapid trend of industrialization and urbanization can lead to greater exposure of the general population to chromium, cobalt, and nickel. Their total body burden from all routes of recent exposure, as well as interindividual variability in exposure levels, metabolism, and excretion rates, are reflected in the blood metal concentrations. The main goals in this study were as follows: observing the reference levels of chromium, cobalt, and nickel in the blood of the population living in Belgrade, identification of individual and sociodemographic factors that most affect their blood levels, and comprehension of recent exposure to chromium, cobalt, and nickel. Blood was sampled from 984 participants, voluntary blood donors, who agreed to participate in this study. Individual and sociodemographic data were collected using questionnaire adapted for different subpopulations. Blood metal analyses were measured using ICP-MS method (7700×, Agilent, USA). Our study provided reference values of chromium, cobalt, and nickel in blood for adult population (18–65 years) and confirmed that blood cobalt and nickel levels were mostly influenced by age and gender, and age, respectively. Furthermore, weight status affected blood chromium and cobalt levels, while national origin affected blood chromium levels. The present study highlighted the importance of human biomonitoring studies to monitor exposure status and identify subpopulations with increased exposure to chromium, cobalt, and nickel.
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Data Availability
The data that support the findings of this study are not openly available due to reasons of sensitivity and are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request and with permission from the Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Belgrade and Blood Transfusion Institute of Serbia.
Abbreviations
- Cr :
-
chromium
- Co :
-
cobalt
- Ni :
-
nickel
- ATSDR :
-
Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry
- BMI :
-
body mass index
- WHO :
-
World Health Organization
- IOTF :
-
International Obesity Task Force
- WOF :
-
World Obesity Federation
- ICP-MS :
-
inductively coupled plasma–mass spectrometry
- SRM :
-
standard reference material
- LoD :
-
limit of detection
- RV :
-
reference values
- PM10 :
-
particulate matter 10 micrometers or less in diameter
- PM2.5 :
-
particulate matter 2.5 micrometers or less in diameter
- SEPA :
-
Serbian Environmental Protection Agency
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Acknowledgements
The authors are grateful to all women and men who voluntarily participated in this study and to the personnel of the Blood Transfusion Institute of Serbia in Belgrade who collaborated in recruiting participants and collecting blood samples.
Funding
This work was partially supported by the Ministry of Science, Technological Development and Innovation, Republic of Serbia through Grant Agreement with University of Belgrade-Faculty of Pharmacy No: 451-03-47/2023-01/ 200161.
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All authors whose names appear on the submission made substantial contributions to the conception and design of the work. Acquisition, method development, and analysis were performed by Aleksandra Repić. Zorica Bulat made substantial contributions to conceptualization and supervision. Assistance in the acquisition and analytical implementation of the work were provided by Vera Lukić. The blood collection and conducting a questionnaire were monitored by Olivera Savić. Dragana Javorac and Milena Andjelković participated in investigation, formal analysis, and data curation. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Aleksandra Repić. Aleksandra Buha Djordjević, Stefan Mandić-Rajčević, Biljana Antonijević, Petar Bulat, and Zorica Bulat participated in critical review and editing. All authors have read and approved the version to be published and agree to be accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved.
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The study was approved by the Ethics Committee of University of Belgrade – Faculty of Pharmacy (No.650/2 5/13/2019) and Ethics Committee of Blood Transfusion Institute of Serbia (No. 2802, 6/3/2019). Participants signed an informed consent to participate in the study.
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Written informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study. All participants in the study were informed about the research project and each of them signed the informed consent to participate in the study.
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Repić, A., Vukelić, D., Andjelković, M. et al. Individual, sociodemographic, and lifestyle influence on blood chromium, cobalt, and nickel levels in healthy population living in Belgrade, Serbia. Environ Sci Pollut Res 30, 109546–109558 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-023-29950-3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-023-29950-3