Blood levels of lead, cadmium, and mercury in the elderly living in institutionalized care in the Czech Republic

Background: There is limited research examining the chemical load of toxic metals in the elderly. The aim of the present study was two-fold: to determine the body burden of lead, cadmium and mercury in association with age, gender, locality, lifestyle factors and potential health impacts among this population and to compare the values with blood values from the general Czech population aged 18-64 years. Methods: Lead, cadmium and mercury were examined in the blood of institutionalized senior citizens (46 males, 151 females aged 61-100 years) from two localities in the Czech Republic (Prague and Teplice) from 2009 through 2011. Measurements were made using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (Pb, Cd) and a single purpose spectrometer AMA 254 (Hg). Results: Geometric means (GM) of whole blood lead (B-Pb), cadmium (B-Cd) and mercury (B-Hg) levels were 25.3 mu g/l, 0.55 mu g/l and 0.21 mu g/l, respectively. No age-related differences were found for B-Pb and B-Cd levels but a negative correlation with age was observed for B-Hg levels (p=0.04). B-Pb levels in men were significantly higher than in women (GM 29.9 mu g/l vs. 24.1 mu g/l). B-Cd was significantly higher in women (GM 0.57 mu g/l) than in men (0.50 mu g/l) (p=0.007) and in smokers (GM1.29 mu g/l) than in nonsmokers (GM0.53 mu g/l) (p=<0.001) and in seniors from Prague (GM0.60 mu g/l) compared to those from Teplice (GM0.43 mu g/l) (p=<0.001). Seniors with a history of chronic kidney disease, stroke and those using psycho-pharmaceuticals had higher B-Pb levels (p = 0.008, 0.04 and 0.05, resp.), seniors diagnosed with atherosclerosis had higher B-Cd levels (p = 0.002) and seniors using psycho-pharmaceuticals had higher B-Hg levels (p = 0.07). B-Hg levels were also positively correlated with blood albumin levels (p = 0.015). Conclusions: This study provides data on levels of heavy metals in a group of elderly people. Such information is very scarce. Associations with diseases should be the subject of further investigation. (C) 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.