Metals as biomarkers of the environmental human exposure

Abstract

The 1st PROBE programme for the assessment of the internal dose of metals of the Italian population closed in 2011. A population sample of 1423 individuals, aged between 18 and 65 years from five regions, are recruited and information on gender, age and lifestyles of subjects is collected by a questionnaire. Concentrations of 20 metals, namely As, Be, Cd, Co, Cr, Hg, Ir, Mn, Mo, Ni, Pb, Pd, Pt, Rh, Sb, Sn, Tl, U, V and W are determined by the sector field inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (HR-ICP-MS) in whole blood and serum. Metals levels are reported as geometric means (GM) and 95th percentiles (P95). Biomarkers variations in sub-groups of the population stratified for influencing variables are also assessed. A comparison with available guideline values for some biomarkers of exposure (Cd, Co, Hg and Pb in human blood) and the levels determined in the Italian population are also outlined.