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Cadmium, zinc, copper and metallothionein levels in the kidney and liver of humans from central Poland

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Abstract

Cd, Zn, Cu, and metallothionein (MT) levels have been determined in the renal cortex and liver of 70 persons who died in Lodz and its surroundings in the years 1985–1989. The mean concentrations were: 44.9±28.6 µg Cd/g, 52.0±16.7 µg Zn/g, 2.4±1.0 µg Cu/g, 0.79±0.40 µmol Hg/g, and 3.5±1.8 µg Cd/g, 66.7±30.5 µg Zn/g, 4.9±2.1 µg Cu/g, 0.50±0.38 µmol Hg/g wet tissue in renal cortex and liver, respectively, with mean age 54.0±13.8. Smokers showed 2.4 times higher levels of Cd in the renal cortex than non-smokers. The mean body burden of Cd was 33.4±17.3 mg. Smoking increases it twofold from 22.0 mg in non-smokers to 41.8 mg in smokers.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Toxicological Chemistry, Institute of Environmental Research and Bioanalysis, Medical University, Muszyńskiego 1, 90-151, Lodz, Poland

    Ewa M. Bem, Bronisław W. Kaszper, Czesław Orłowski, Jerzy K. Piotrowski, Gabriela Wójcik & Ewa Żołnowska

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  1. Ewa M. Bem
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  2. Bronisław W. Kaszper
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  3. Czesław Orłowski
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  4. Jerzy K. Piotrowski
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  5. Gabriela Wójcik
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Additional information

This work was supported by the grant CPBR 11.12(C-56/86) from the Institute of Rural Medicine, Lublin, Poland.

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Bem, E.M., Kaszper, B.W., Orłowski, C. et al. Cadmium, zinc, copper and metallothionein levels in the kidney and liver of humans from central Poland. Environ Monit Assess 25, 1–13 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00549788

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