Tohoku J. Exp. Med., 2001, 193 (3)

Element Concentrations in Urine of Patients Suffering from Chronic Arsenic Poisoning

YAXIONG XIE,^1,4 HIROSHI MIYAMOTO,² MASAO KONDO,³ HIDENORI KOGA,¹ AIHUA ZHANG,⁴ MASAYOSHI OHMICHI,² YUTAKA INABA¹ and MOMOKO CHIBA¹

¹Department of Epidemiology and Environmental Health, Juntendo University School of Medicine, Tokyo 113-8421,
²Chiba City Institute of Health and Environment, Chiba 261-0001,
³Department of Nutrition and Biochemistry, National Institute of Public Health, Tokyo 108-8638, and
⁴Department of Preventive Medicine, Guiyang Medical College, Guiyang 550004, China

In order to know the element levels in the urine of patients with chronic arsenic poisoning caused by arsenic assimilated from burning coal via air and food, we investigated various elements in the urine of 16 patients with this disease and 16 controls living in the same county in Guizhou Province of China. Concentrations of 25 elements (Al, As, Ba, Be, Bi, Ca, Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, Ga, Mg, Mn, Mo, Ni, P, Pb, Rb, Sb, Se, Sn, Sr, Ti, V and Zn) were determined by an inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer or an inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometer. The average concentrations of Cu, Ga and Sn as well as As in the patients were significantly higher, and those of Cr, Rb, Sr and Ti in the patients were significantly lower than the control values. Al, Ba, Mn, Ni and Se were under detection limit in the patients, though they could be detected in the controls. There were no positive correlations between the concentration of As and the concentrations of other elements, including Cu, Ga and Sn in the patients. The results of this study suggest that As from burning coal might influence the urinary excretion of some elements.

Keywords —— arsenic poisoning; human trace and major elements; urine; burning coal; China

© 2001 Tohoku University Medical Press

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Tohoku J. Exp. Med., 2001, 193, 229-235

Address for reprints: Momoko Chiba, Ph.D., Department of Epidemiology and Environmental Health, Juntendo University School of Medicine, 2-1-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8421, Japan.

e-mail: mmchiba@med.juntendo.ac.jp