Antioxidants level assessment in the diet of workers contacting with heavy metals at industrial enterprise

Abstract

The main occupational pathologies in the Sverdlovsk region are diseases induced by the exposure to industrial aerosols containing heavy metals. One of the reasons of the toxic effect of the heavy metals is oxidative stress induced by the latter, namely, the process of damaging the body cells as a result of the oxidation reactions. The quantitative assessment of the antioxidant consumption in foods composing the diet of heavy metal industry workers was performed. The diet was revealed to be not various in terms of the foods containing antioxidants and the main quantity of the latter was administered into the body from the brown bread, tea, apples, chocolates and sweets having low activity according to the ORAC index but consumed in the great amounts. In the meantime, foods with the high level of the antioxidant content and bio-correction properties (fruits, vegetables, spices) were lacking in the diet and this fact could probably influence on the decline of the body’s reserve of detoxification.