Urinary excretion of copper and zinc among cigarette smokers

ABSTRACT

The urinary levels of cadmium [Cd], zinc [Zn] and copper [CU] were measured among eleven adult male non-smokers and thirty-eight adult male cigarette smokers to investigate the effect of cigarette smoking on the urinary excretion of Zn and Cu in relation to urinary Cd level. The cigarette smokers were classified into two groups according to the level of urinary Cd. The first group contained thirteen cases with urinary Cd levels within the normal range of non-smokers and the urinary levels of both Zn and Cu were observed also within the same range. The second group contained twenty-five cases with elevated urinary Cd levels. The latter was further subdivided into two subgroups according to the urinary levels of Zn and Cu. The results suggested that urinary Cd at a certain level may be accompanied by increased urinary excretion of both Zn and Cu among cigarette smokers