Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
TURKIYE KLINIKLERI TIP BILIMLERI DERGISI, cilt.32, sa.1, ss.7-14, 2012 (SCI-Expanded)
Objective: Metals are commonly found in air, water, soil and biologic substances. Many factors are involved in the path metals' follow to reach the food chain with air, water, soil and finally plants. Many tissue studies were conducted and reported for different countries as tissue biopsies are crucial for identifying chronic exposure. A tissue study carried out this way is not available in Turkey. Thus we aimed to detect and report levels of heavy metals (cadmium and lead) and trace elements (zinc and copper) in renal cortex tissues for Turkey. Material and Methods: Autopsy tissue samples used in our study were obtained from a total of 114 adult autopsy cases arrived to the Council of Forensic Medicine between June-November 2007. Measurements were done with Atomic Absorption Spectrometry. Copper and zinc were detected with Flame Atomic Absorption Technique and lead and cadmium were detected with Microwave Oven Digestion Procedure. Results: Cadmium levels were 20.9-312 (mu g/g), lead levels were 0.037-7.49 (mu g/g), copper levels were 25.6-475 (mu g/g) and cupper levels were 1.54-171 (mu g/g) in renal cortex tissue. Cadmium values in our country were comparable to levels in many European countries and significantly lower compared to the values reported from Japan. Renal cortex lead values of our country were similar to those of Norway and Czech Republic and significantly lower compared to the other countries, especially USA. A significant difference was not found between zinc concentrations of our study and the values reported from other countries. Copper concentrations that we found for our country were significantly higher compared to those reported for other countries. Results were analysed according to the age, gender, smoking habit and residence of the subjects. Renal cadmium values increased with age and were found significantly higher in males compared to females. Lead and cadmium values were significantly highes among individuals who smoked. Conclusion: In conclusion, renal cortex Cd, Pb, Zn and Cu levels were determined for Turkey and compared with the levels in various studies in literature.