Exposure of women in general populations to lead via food and air in East and Southeast Asia

Lead Levels in Urine of Never-Smoking Adult Women in Non-Polluted Areas in Japan, with References to Cadmium Levels in Urine

“…Among the few studies, Aoshima et al 41) in a study of the inhabitants in a Cd-polluted area in Japan found substantial elevation in Cd-B as expected, but the elevation in Pb-B was slight. Such discrepancy as observed in the present study and in the study of Aoshima et al 41) is quite expectable because the mechanism of the exposure is different, e.g., dietary intake of rice containing Cd even at trace levels, versus inspiration of Pb-polluted air 42,43) . Our previous analysis of the general population exposure to Pb and Cd in various areas in east and southeast Asia showed that the relative weight of Pb intake through the respiratory route in total Pb intake varies from less than 50% in cities in Japan to 80% or more in some large cities in south-east Asia, as a function of Pb levels in the atmospheric air 42) .…”

Nutrient intake by kindergarten children in Beijing and Xian, China in 2004-2005, with special reference to sources of high sodium intake

“…The lack of association of Pb exposure levels with any type of cereals is conceivable, although the level, 12.0 μg/day (Table 3) was about 19% of the levels reported for polluted areas, e.g., 63 μg/ day [31]. Foods are not always major sources of exposure to Pb, and air-borne Pb in polluted atmosphere could be a substantial source [15]. There are several limitations in the present survey.…”

“…Cereals are known to be major dietary sources for two environmental pollutant elements of Cd and Pb [14,15,[30][31][32]. The present analysis proved that Cd intake was associated with intakes of cereals, rice in particular, despite the fact that Cd intake in the present survey was as low as 8.9 μg/day (Table 3), which is only 1.5% of the levels reported for adult residents in Cd-polluted areas (e.g., 541 or 684 μg/day [33]), because foods are exclusive sources of Cd exposure among general populations [14].…”

“…As Cd and Pb values are known to distribute log-normally (rather than normally) e.g. [9,14,15], geometric means (GMs) and geometric standard deviations (GSDs) were calculated for these two pollutant elements. For statistical evaluation, p<0.05 was taken as the point of significance.…”

Past, present, and future of environmental specimen banks

“…1 kg) portions of the total homogenate are stored in ten 100-ml bottles at -30°C. Concurrent and long-term trends in Pb and Cd exposures are reported in detail [2][3][4][5][6].…”