The Investigation Of The Burden And The Adverse Effect Of Lead Cadmium And Mercury In Suzhou Citizens

[Objective J The effect of harmful mental elements such as Pb, Cd and Hg to Suzhou citizens without occupational exposure is unknown. This study was designed to investigate the burden of these mental elements in Suzhou's citizens, and to provide the basic data for further study and for making determinations of prevention policies.[ Indexes ] Blood lead, blood cadmium, hair lead, hair cadmium, hair mercury, urine lead, urine cadmium, urine mercury, free erythrocyte protoporphrin(FEP), alkaline phosphatase(ALP) and urine N-acetyl- β -D-glucosidase (NAG) .[Subjects and Methods] Subjects: The preschool children and the school children were chosen from two kindergartens and from two schools in downtown, respectively. The adults were the blood-donors of Suzhou Blood Center and the persons who were taken health examinations by the Center of Disease Control and Prevention of Suzhou Industrial Park District. The samples of blood, urine and hair were collected from these subjects. Method: The levels of lead and cadmium in blood, urine and hair were determined by atomic absorption spectrophotometer. The levels of mercury in urine and hair were determined by cool atomic absorption spectrophotometer. The level of blood FEP was determined by fluorescence spectrophotometer, and other indexes were detected by reagent kits.[Results] 1 The burden of lead and cadmium in preschool childrenThe average level of blood lead and blood cadmium of preschool children were 66.3 μ g/L(8.69~l75.98 μ g/L) and 0.63 μ g/L(0.06~7.08 μ g/L), respectively. Blood FEP was 288.5 μ g/L (120.2-676 μ g/L). Hair lead was 3.08 μ g/g(0.38~32,75 μ g/g) and hair cadmium was 0.074 μ g/g(0.028~0.33 μ g/g). The burden of lead and cadmium in local preschool children was lower than that of preschool children inBeijing and Shanghai. The adverse effects to health of local preschool children were not found.2 The burden of lead cadmium and mercury in school childrenThe level of hair lead and hair cadmium were 0.66 μ g/g (0.10-23.98 μ g/g) and 0.023 μ g/g (0.0041-0.234 μ g/g), respectively. Urine NAG was 12.8U/g. cr (1.53 -94.77 U/g. cr). Hair mercury of children was 0.85 μ g/g(0.14~3.75 μ g/g). The burden of lead and cadmium in school children was low, and it didn't produce any adverse effect to their health. Compared with the investigation made twenty years ago, the burden of mercury in children didn't increased.3 The burden of lead cadmium and mercury in adultsThe average levels of blood lead and cadmium in downtown adults were 94.1 μ g/L (2.86~471.4μ g/L) and 1.13 μ g/L (0.13-12.27 μ g/L) , respectively. The levels of hair lead and hair cadmium were 1.76μg/g (0.35?.24 μ g/g) and 0.24μg/g (0.0068~0.27 μ g/g), respectively. The average level of hair mercury was 0.95 μ g/g (0.42-9.45 μ g/g) . Compared with the data provided by Ministry of Public Health and investigations of other cities' adults, the burden of lead in the adults of Suzhou citizens was moderate, however, the burden of cadmium in Suzhou citizens was higher. The urine lead and cadmium in adults were 19.87 μ g/L (1.99-81.3 μ g/L) and 1.06 μ g/L (0.03-13.8 μ g/L) , respectively. The level of ALP was 17.52 King's unit (4.61 -38.97) , and urine NAG was 15.49 U/g. cr (0.99-41.41 U/g. cr) . These indexes showed that the current burden of these harmful elements didn't produce any adverse effect to their health. The level of mercury in Suzhou citizens didn't increse compared with the investigation made twenty years ago. The level of blood lead of the workers in Suzhou Industrial Park District was 134.8 μ g/L (5.94-49.65 μ g/L) , significantly higher than that of general citizens in the downtown of Suzhou. It's better to pay more attention to the further tendency of lead cadmium and mercury in Suzhou's citizens.