Blood and placental concentrations of cadmium, lead, and mercury in mothers and their newborns.

Placental transfer of cadmium, lead and mercury was studied under the conditions of environmental exposures of pregnant women to these heavy metals. Fifty pregnant women from industrial area and a similar control group from a semirural area were examined. Cadmium, lead and total mercury levels were determined in maternal erythrocytes and plasma, in placenta, and in erythrocytes and plasma of umbilical cord blood using atomic absorption spectrophotometry. Except for the cadmium plasma concentration in the control area, levels of the three metals were higher in maternal than in cord blood. The mean plasma values (arithmetic mean) of cadmium, lead, and mercury in industrial area were 0.53, 6.37, and 0.37 micrograms.100 ml-1 in maternal blood and 0.30, 4.82, and 0.31 micrograms.100 ml-1 in cord blood. Highest values of the correlation coefficients were found between the cadmium and mercury concentrations in maternal and cord blood erythrocytes. No striking effect of the place of residence of pregnant women on the heavy metal concentrations in biological materials could be found.

[Microelements in the liver and kidney of laying hens kept on large-capacity poultry farms under normal and increased supply to the organism]. / Mikroelementy v peceni a oblicke nosníc v súcasných podmienkach velkochovov pri ich normálnom, ako aj zvysenom prívode do organizmu.

The contents of manganese, zinc, copper, and iron in the liver and kidney of laying hens (Shaver), kept on modern large-capacity poultry farms, were determined under the conditions of a normal and increased supply of these microelements to the organism. The content of the mentioned trace elements was determined by means of atomic absorption spectrophotometry, flameless technique, and with the use of graphite cell. In the layers fed a diet with a normal content of trace elements the average concentrations of the microelements in the liver were the following: manganese: 15.8 +/- 8.8 mg kg-1, zinc: 35.0 +/- 5.1 mg kg-1, copper: 19.9+/- 2.8 mg kg-1, and iron: 761.6 +/- 245.8 mg kg-1. When increased amounts of microelements were added to the diet, their average content generally increased just in the kidneys, whereas their average concentrations in the liver remained the same, with the exception of iron, the content of which showed an increase.