Trace elements in the environment and in human organs. I. Methods and results

Abstract

The authors have determined by spectrophotometry the copper, zinc, lead, and cadmium content of the kidney, liver, lung, and adrenal derived from 1072 autopsies. The metallic content of food and drink was examined and the daily quantity consumed was stated by measuring and calculation. According to the results in Hungary the daily ingestion of these four microelements is small, as reflected by the metal content of the organs. An average 75% of the kidney's whole cadmium content is present in the cortex of the kidney. Lead in the medulla and zinc in the cortex are found in larger quantities. Analyzing the distribution according to sexes it was found that lead in the liver and kidney and cadmium in the kidney and lung of women is significantly lower than in the male. However, the element content in the adrenal is significantly higher for zinc and cadmium in women. The cadmium distribution in the kidney is similar to the essential elements. The correlation of the element pairs is better in the kidney and lung (Zn-Cu is 0.55 in the kidney and 0.51 in the lung).