Detection of Some Heavy Metals (Mercury and Lead) Pollutants and their Association with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM) in Baghdad, Iraq

Abstract

Due to the increased use of products carrying heavy metals caused by human factors in the streets of the city of Baghdad and their direct impact on the air, water quality and soil pollution, heavy metals pollution is one of the important environmental problems. As heavy metals cannot be degraded, they accumulate biologically, and, therefore, can directly threaten higher organisms including humans. The current study focused on detecting heavy metals (mercury and lead) to determine the adverse effects and risk of developing type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) in humans. One hundred total blood samples were collected from healthy people and the patients of both sexes who were suffering from T2DM, with mean age of 31 to 75 years, after 8 to 12 hours of fasting. The first group - G1 the control group consisted of 20 health people (6 males and 14 females). The second group - G2 included 40 patients (20 males and 20 females) who had T2DM and were not exposed to any pollutants. The third group - G3 included 40 males with T2DM and also who were exposed to smoke from local electricity generators, as these samples were collected from workers or living near generators and were exposed to air pollution for a long time. Blood samples were collected from each individual by drawing blood from a vein to evaluate each of the biochemical tests, as well as detecting of some heavy metals such as mercury and lead. The results showed that there was a highly significant increase (p≤0.01) when both fasting blood sugar (FBS) and HbA1c were analysed. As for the results of the analysis of the types of lipid profile, there is no significant difference in cholesterol, while there was a significant increase (p≤0.05) in both low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholestrol and very low density lipoprotein (VLDL) cholestrol and a highly significant increase (p≤0.01) for both triglyceride and high density lipoporotein cholesterol (HDL) cholestrol. The results of the liver function analysis showed that there was no significant difference in the results of the enzyme serum glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase (SGOT) as well as total bilirubin, while there was a significant increase (p≤0.05) in serum glutamate pyruvate transaminase (SGPT). Significant increase (p≤0.01) was detected in the alkaline phosphatase (ALP) enzyme for each of the studied groups. The results of the detection of the presence of heavy metals using the atomic absorption spectrophotometer showed that there was a significant increase (p≤0.01) in lead, and as for mercury, no significant difference was noticed.