Urinary calculi – atypical source of information on mercury in human biomonitoring.
| Authors | |
|---|---|
| Year of publication | 2012 |
| Type | Article in Periodical |
| Magazine / Source | Central European Journal of Chemistry |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| Doi | http://dx.doi.org/10.2478/s11532-012-0063-9 |
| Field | Environment influence on health |
| Keywords | Urolithiasis; Calculi; Mercury; Biomonitoring; Trace elements |
| Description | Chemical analysis of various biological matrices is routinely used for assessment of human exposure to various toxic metals. In this work, 489 samples of urinary calculi originating from almost the whole of The Czech Republic, were collected and subjected to mineralogical and elemental analysis. This study was aimed at mercury, the content of which was determined using thermo-oxidation - cold vapor - atomic absorption spectrometry. The effects of mineralogical composition, sex, age and region were recorded in order to verify the applicability of urinary calculi for biomonitoring. Relationships with other minor and trace elements were also investigated. Association of mercury with whewellite mineral was observed as well as a remarkable relationship with selenium, confirming the role of selenium in mercury excretion. No statistically significant effect was observed on the mercury content in stones with regard to the sex or region. Median values in age groups follow a trend with the maximum median value 0.365 mg kg(-1) in the group of 41-50 year old donors, decreasing to 0.060 mg kg(-1) for the oldest group (81-92 years). Our results confirm that urinary calculi can be helpful in providing complementary information on human exposure to mercury and its excretion. |
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