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.
Highlights
It is well known that mercury is an element which is highly toxic for humans, animals, plants, and microorganisms (Wolfe et al 1998; Wang et al 2012, Pérez-Sanz et al 2012, Kowalski and Frankowski 2015, Sanchez-Chardi et al 2007)
Mercury content was significantly higher in the femoral neck (Table 1)
For a sample from age group 71– 80, we found that mercury content was 20 times lower in the femoral head (8.4 ng/g in FH and 169.6 ng/g in femoral neck (FN), age 79)
Summary
It is well known that mercury is an element which is highly toxic for humans, animals, plants, and microorganisms (Wolfe et al 1998; Wang et al 2012, Pérez-Sanz et al 2012, Kowalski and Frankowski 2015, Sanchez-Chardi et al 2007) It exhibits mutagenic and teratogenic properties, and can be accumulated in the human body (Clarkson et al 2007, Kowalski and Frankowski 2015). Mercury is mainly used in the production of biocides, batteries, and dental amalgam fillings in industrial electrolysis and in the extraction of gold Most of this metal (in the form of Hg0 vapor) is emitted into the atmosphere via fossil fuel-based production of electricity (coal, lignite, and crude oil Environ Sci Pollut Res (2017) 24:547–557 burning) (Lanocha et al 2013). Due to the clear influence of mercury on human health, it is necessary to continue investigations on this metal in different human tissues and on the possible health effects posed by particular mercury concentrations
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