Abstract
With the growing interest in new applications of metals in modern technologies, an increase in their concentration in the environment can be observed, which, in consequence, may constitute a hazard to human health. That is why it is of a great importance to establish “reference” levels of particular elements (essential or toxic) in human biological samples.The aim of this paper was to determine nickel in autopsy tissues of non-occupationally exposed subjects in Southern Poland (n = 60). Measurements were performed by means of electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry after microwave-assisted acid digestion according to previously optimized and validated procedure. The results obtained indicate that data cover the wide range of concentrations and generally are consistent with other published findings. Nickel levels in the brain, stomach, liver, kidneys, lungs and heart (wet weight) were between 2.15–79.4 ng/g, 0.5–44.2 ng/g,7.85–519 ng/g, 12.8–725 ng/g, 8.47–333 ng/g and 2.3–97.7 ng/g, respectively. Females had generally lower levels of nickel in tissues than males (statistically significant relationships were found for the liver, kidneys and lungs), and median nickel concentrations in all studied material within all age groups had very similar values, with the exception of stomach.
Highlights
IntroductionThis is due to its natural abundance in the Earth’s crust (the 24th most naturally abundant element) and human activity [1, 2]
The Mann-Whitney U and ANOVA Kruskal-Wallis ANOVA tests are chosen to assess the relationship between nickel content and gender or age of deceased―box and whisker plots are presented in Figs. 1 and 2
All values of nickel concentrations found in internal organs according to gender and age are presented in Tables 1 and 2, respectively
Summary
This is due to its natural abundance in the Earth’s crust (the 24th most naturally abundant element) and human activity [1, 2]. It has been proven that contact with nickel compounds (both soluble and insoluble) can lead to many pathological effects [2, 4], among which allergy in the form of contact dermatitis (estimated in 10–20% of the general population) is the most common and known reaction of the human body to nickel [2, 5, 6]. When compared with controls, elevated levels in blood (mean ± SD: 3.0 ± 2.8 μg/L in controls and 25.5 ± 4.9 μg/L in iron and steel foundry workers [9]), urine (mean 4.36 vs 36.6 μg/L in steel production workers [10]) and body tissues (e.g. in the lungs of nickel refinery workers, mean 62 vs 24, 84 ng/g [11]) have been shown in occupationally exposed subjects. Though it is expected that exposure to nickel can occur from cigarette smoking, nickel concentration measured in smokers’ blood does not differ much from that determined in non-smokers’ blood [4]
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