Cadmium in kidneys in Swedes measured in vivo using X-ray fluorescence analysis.
An X-ray fluorescence (XRF) technique using plane polarized X-rays for excitation was used for in vivo measurements of cadmium in the kidney cortex among non-occupationally exposed members of the general population in southern Sweden. The measured concentrations of cadmium in the kidney cortex of smokers (median 28 micrograms/g, n = 10) were significantly higher (P = 0.0036) as compared to those in non-smokers (median 8 micrograms/g, n = 10), and so were the cadmium concentrations in blood and urine. The results show that smoking considerably increases the cadmium concentration in the kidney cortex and that smoking is a major source of cadmium exposure in the general population of Sweden. Except in the presence of very deeply situated kidneys, where the minimum detectable concentration is high, non-invasive in vivo XRF analysis of kidney cadmium should be a useful tool for evaluating the effects of long-term low-level exposure to cadmium and the risk of kidney damage.
Nilsson
U
U
Department of Radiation Physics, Malmö University Hospital, Sweden.
Schütz
A
A
Skerfving
S
S
Mattsson
S
S
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002104:Cadmium / Q000032:analysis* / Q000097:blood / Q000652:urine; D004781:Environmental Exposure; D005260:Female; D005453:Fluorescence; D006801:Humans; D007672:Kidney Cortex / Q000737:chemistry*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011874:Radiometry; D012907:Smoking; D013548:Sweden
D002104:Cadmium