An analysis of factors affecting the mercury content in the human femoral bone

Abstract

The study was carried out to determine the content of mercury in bone tissue of the proximal femur (head and neck bone) of 95 patients undergoing total hip replacement due to osteoarthritis, using CF-AFS analytical technique. Furthermore, the investigations were aimed at assessing the impact of selected factors, such as age, gender, tobacco smoking, alcohol consumption, exposure to chemical substance at work, type of degenerative changes, clinical evaluation and radiological parameters, type of medications, on the concentration of mercury in the head and neck of the femur, resected in situ. Mercury was obtained in all samples of the head and neck of the femur (n = 190) in patients aged 25-91 years. The mean content of mercury for the whole group of patients was as follows: 37.1 ± 35.0 ng/g for the femoral neck and 24.2 ± 19.5 ng/g for the femoral head. The highest Hg contents were found in femoral neck samples, both in women and men, and they amounted to 169.6 and 176.5 ng/g, respectively. The research showed that the mercury content of bones can be associated with body mass index, differences in body anatomy, and gender. The uses of statistical analysis gave the possibility to define the influence of factors on mercury content in human femoral bones.

Keywords: Body mass index; CV-AFS technique; Environment factors; Femoral bone; Mercury.

Fig. 1

Median values of mercury content of the femoral head and neck of women, depending on age (boxes indicate upper and lower quartile, whiskers indicate minimum and maximum values, open circles indicate outlier values, and asterisks indicate extreme values). No significant difference between the groups

Fig. 2

Median values of mercury content of the femoral head and neck of men, depending on age (boxes indicate upper and lower quartile, whiskers indicate minimum and maximum values, open circles indicate outlier values, and asterisks indicate extreme values). No significant difference between the groups

Fig. 3

Median values of mercury content of the femoral head and neck of all patients, depending on age (boxes indicate upper and lower quartile, whiskers indicate minimum and maximum values, open circles indicate outlier values, and asterisks indicate extreme values)

Fig. 4

Mercury content of the femoral head and neck of women, depending on the BMI (boxes indicate upper and lower quartile, whiskers indicate minimum and maximum values, open circles indicate outlier values, and asterisks indicate extreme values). Normal BMI, between 18.5 and 24.9; overweight, between 25 and 29.9; obese, −30 and above)

Fig. 5

Mercury content of the femoral head and neck of men, depending on the BMI (boxes indicate upper and lower quartile, whiskers indicate minimum and maximum values, open circles indicate outlier values, and asterisks indicate extreme values). No significant difference between the groups. Normal BMI, between 18.5 and 24.9; overweight, between 25 and 29.9; obese, −30 and above)