The association between content of the elements S, Cl, K, Fe, Cu, Zn and Br in normal and cirrhotic liver tissue from Danes and Greenlandic Inuit examined by dual hierarchical clustering analysis

Multivariate Analyses and Human Health Assessments of Heavy Metals for Surface Water Quality in the Xiangjiang River Basin, China

Pollution by heavy metals in river water is becoming a major subject of global drinking water concern, and the Xiangjiang River is one of the most heavily polluted rivers in China. Water samples were collected from 17 sites spanning the entire Xiangjiang watershed from 2005 to 2016 to investigate spatial-temporal distributions and potential human health risks related to 8 metal pollutants (As, Cd, Hg, Cr, Cu, Pb, Zn, and Se). The results of spatial-temporal distribution analyses proved that most metals were below the guideline limits the majority of the time. However, the hazard index and carcinogenic risk analyses indicated that As and Cr were associated with a potential risk of cancer, although noncarcinogenic heavy metals in general and carcinogenic risk declined year by year. A nonparametric seasonal Mann-Kendall's test revealed that there were notable decreasing trends in As, Cd, Zn, Cu, Cr, and Pb for most sites, whereas Se and Hg significantly increased in some areas over the targeted 12 yr. The results of principal component analysis agreed with those of dual hierarchical cluster analysis in the identification of pollution sources, the results of which are as follows: 1) As, Cd, Pb, Hg, and Zn were mainly derived from anthropogenic activities and the smelting industry; 2) Cr and Cu mainly originated from agricultural or industrial activities; and 3) Se was predominantly from natural erosion. The present study will be conducive to optimizing the distribution of water monitoring stations and drafting remediation strategies pertaining to the protection of public health in metal-polluted areas. Environ Toxicol Chem 2019;38:1645-1657. © 2019 SETAC.

Liver tissue trace element levels in HepB patients and the relationship of these elements with histological injury in the liver and with clinical parameters

AIM

In this study, the relationship of liver tissue trace element concentrations with hepatitis B disease and the effects of several environmental factors were analysed.

METHOD

The liver tissue concentrations of Al, Fe, Cd, Mn, Cr, Cu, Pb, Ni, Zn, Ag, and Co were evaluated in 92 patients with hepatitis B using the Inductively Coupled Plasma - Mass Spectrometry (ICP/MS) method in the analyses. The patients were divided into the following two groups: low-high Ishak histologic activity index (HAI) (0-6: Low Histologic Activity, 7-18: High Histologic Activity) and low-high fibrosis (FS) (Fibrosis 1,1,2 and Fibrosis 3,4,5,6). The metal levels were compared between the groups.

RESULTS

The Cd concentration was found to be statistically higher in the group with low HAI scores (p=0.019). The hepatic Cu concentration was found to be higher in women than in men (p=0.046). The hepatic Fe concentration was found to be higher in the group with increased FS compared to the group with decreased FS (p=0.033). Cd was found to be higher in patients who worked in positions involving exposure to heavy metals and in individuals with an ALT level above 40 IU/L (p=0.008). Several correlations have been found between the hepatic tissue metal levels in our study. In a linear regression analysis, Fe and Zn were found to be correlated with the fibrosis scores (p=<0.001 and p=0.029), and Cu was correlated with HAI (p=0.023). In the linear regression model, Ni (p=0.018) and Cr (p=0.011) were correlated with gender. There was a correlation between the hepatic Fe level and the location where hepatitis B patients were living (village/city) (p=0.001), frequency of fish consumption (p=0.045) and smoking (p=0.018) according to the linear regression analysis. Using a logistic regression analysis, Cr (p=0.029), Ni (p=0.031) and Pb (p=0.027) were found to be correlated with smoking habit, and Zn (p=0.010), Ag (p=0.026), Cd (p=0.007) and Al (p=0.005) were correlated with fish consumption.

CONCLUSION

The liver tissue trace element levels are correlated with disease activity and histologic damage in patients with HepB disease. Additionally, smoking, the environment in which the patient works and the amount of fish consumption affect the accumulation of trace elements in the liver.

Assessment of heavy metals contamination in sediments from three adjacent regions of the Yellow River using metal chemical fractions and multivariate analysis techniques

Metal chemical fractions obtained by optimized BCR three-stage extraction procedure and multivariate analysis techniques were exploited for assessing 7 heavy metals (Cr, Pb, Cd, Co, Cu, Zn and Ni) in sediments from Gansu province, Ningxia and Inner Mongolia Autonomous Regions of the Yellow River in Northern China. The results indicated that higher susceptibility and bioavailability of Cr and Cd with a strong anthropogenic source were due to their higher availability in the exchangeable fraction. A portion of Pb, Cd, Co, Zn, and Ni in reducible fraction may be due to the fact that they can form stable complexes with Fe and Mn oxides. Substantial amount of Pb, Co, Ni and Cu was observed as oxidizable fraction because of their strong affinity to the organic matters so that they can complex with humic substances in sediments. The high geo-accumulation indexes (I(geo)) for Cr and Cd showed their higher environmental risk to the aquatic biota. Principal component analysis (PCA) revealed that high toxic Cr and Cd in polluted sites (Cd in S10, S11 and Cr in S13) may be contributed to anthropogenic sources, it was consistent with the results of dual hierarchical clustering analysis (DHCA), which could give more details about contributing sources.