Estimation of toxic elements in the samples of dif

Authors: Hassan Imran Afridi Farah Naz Talpur Tasneem Gul Kazi Dermot Brabazon

Publish Date: 2015/03/04

Volume: 187, Issue: 4, Pages: 157-

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Abstract

Cigarette smoking interferes with the metal homeostasis of the human body which plays a crucial role for maintaining the health A significant flux of heavy metals among other toxins reaches the lungs through smoking In the present study the relationship between toxic element TE exposure via cigarette smoking and rheumatoid arthritis incidence in population living in Dublin Ireland is investigated The trace zinc Zn copper Cu manganese Mn and selenium Se and toxic elements arsenic As cadmium Cd mercury Hg and lead Pb were determined in biological scalp hair and blood samples of patients diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis who are smokers living in Dublin Ireland These results were compared with age and sexmatched healthy nonsmoker controls The different brands of cigarette filler tobacco filter and ash consumed by the studied population were also analyzed for As Cd Hg and Pb The concentrations of trace and TEs in biological samples and different components of cigarette were measured by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrophotometer after microwaveassisted acid digestion The validity and accuracy of the methodology were checked using certified reference materials The recovery of all the studied elements was found to be in the range of 964–998  in certified reference materials The filler tobacco of different branded cigarettes contains Hg As Cd and Pb concentrations in the ranges of 955–124 ng 0432–0727 μg 170–212 μg and 0378–116 μg/cigarette respectively The results of this study showed that the mean values of As Cd Hg and Pb were significantly higher in scalp hair and blood samples of rheumatoid arthritis patients as compare to healthy controls while Zn Cu Mn and Se concentrations were found to be lower in rheumatoid arthritis patients the difference was significant in the case of smoker patients p  0001 The levels of four toxic elements were 2–3folds higher in scalp hair and blood samples of nonrheumatoid arthritis smoker subjects as compared to nonsmoker controls The high exposure of toxic metals as a result of cigarette smoking may be synergistic with risk factors associated with rheumatoid arthritis

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