Blood levels of the elements Cu, Zn, Se, As, Cd, Hg, and Pb have been determined in 62 Nigerian women who were occupationally exposed to vehicular pollution. Mercury was determined using a direct mercury analyzer, while all the other elements were determined by an inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer system. The mean values for all the toxic elements were all within the recommended desirable/tolerable limits, except for Se (0.44 μg/mL, compared with <0.2 μg/mL recommended by the WHO). More than 98% of the subjects had blood selenium levels higher than this recommended limit. For As, Hg, and Pb, the corresponding figures of subjects with blood levels above the recommended limits were 4, 8, and 19.3%, respectively. When the subjects were grouped according to their body mass indexes as normal, underweight, overweight, and obese, analysis of variance shows that mean blood levels of Cu, As, and, to some extent Hg were significantly different in the four nutritional status groups. Blood Hg level correlates significantly with blood As in all the groups, except in obese subjects. Also, a significant correlation between age and blood Hg was observed only in normal subjects and between age and blood Pb only in obese subjects. These results suggest that nutritional status could influence both elemental levels and the interactions between trace elements in the blood of female subjects. Nutrition is therefore a factor to consider in efforts to modify human susceptibility to toxic elements.
Some nutritional parameters were investigated in 62 healthy Nigerian female subjects of low socio-economic status. The percentage body fat (% BF) and some biochemical parameters, High and Low Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol (HDL-C and LDL-C), Total Plasma Cholesterol (TC), Triglyceride (TG), Uric Acid (UA), Urinary Creatinine (U-Cr), Creatinine in plasma (P-Cr) and Creatinine clearance (Cr-CI), were evaluated. Also determined were the Body Mass Index (BMI), Packed Cell Volume, Systolic and Diastolic Blood Pressure (BP-I, BP-2), various skin-fold measurements and body circumferences. Reference values were then established for these various parameters and the correlation between the various variables determined. When the subjects were stratified into four groups (underweight, normal, overweight, and obese) based on their BMI, significant differences (ANOVA, p < 0.05) were observed in LDL-C, Cr-CI, BP-I, as well as 10 out of the 13 anthropometric parameters. These differences could possibly provide diagnostic/prognostic insight for the four groups and the many important diseases associated with them. The hip circumference, in particular, has such a high correlation with both BMI and % BF that it is being suggested as a substitute for these two important parameters in Nigerian women of low socio-economic background.
This work determined the levels of As, Cd, Cu, Hg, Pb, Se and Zn in the blood of sixty-two Nigerian women roadside workers in Ile-Ife using Inductively-Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry and Direct Mercury Analyzer and investigated the toxic metal correlation with some physiological / biochemical parameters. Body fat was estimated using bioelectrical impedance and isotope dilution methods. The results showed that arsenate correlated (p ≤ 0.05) with total cholesterol (TC) and plasma creatinine (P.Cr) in underweight subjects, P.Cr in obese subjects and with creatinine clearance and urinary creatinine in all the subjects. Cd correlated with low density lipid-cholesterol (LDL-C) and TC in underweight, waist and waist/hip ratio in overweight and packed cell volume in obese subjects while Hg had a high correlation factor with LDL-C in overweight and triglycerides and TC in obese subjects. Pb correlated highly with age and total body water in obese subjects. These indicated that interactions between trace elements and the physiological / biochemical parameters are influenced by the nutritional status of the individual subjects and possibly provide a basis for determining the effects of these toxic elements on the exposed subjects.
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