title: Lead levels in urine of never-smoking adult women in non-polluted areas in Japan, with references to cadmium levels in urine.
abstract: The present study was initiated to assess current level of general population exposure to lead (Pb) in terms of Pb in urine (Pb-U). For this purpose, spot urine samples were collected from 2,332 never-smoking adult women in 10 areas all-over Japan, and were subjected to analysis for Pb-U by graphite furnace atomic absorption (GFAA). Data on cadmium in urine (Cd-U) as measured by GFAA were cited from a previous publication). The grand geometric means (GM) for Pb-U as observed, as corrected for creatinine (cr) and as corrected for a specific gravity of 1.016 were 1.06 microg/l, 1.28 microg/g cr and 1.14 microg/l, respectively, with small intra- and inter-variations with geometric standard deviations of about 2 or less. Arithmetic means of the 10 GMs (one each for the 10 areas) were 1.05 microg/l, 1.19 microg/g cr and 1.18 microg/l, respectively. The levels observed appeared to be lower than levels reported for other populations in the world. Chronological comparison within Japan suggested a gradual decrease in Pb-U in past over 20 yr. No close correlation was detected between Pb-U and Cd-U.
authors.affiliation: Kyoto Industrial Health Association, 67 Nishinokyo-Kitatsuboicho, Nakagyo-ku, Kyoto 604-8472, Japan.
authors.forename: Yoshinari
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Fukui
authors.forename: Takafumi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ezaki
authors.forename: Teruomi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tsukahara
authors.forename: Jiro
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Moriguchi
authors.forename: Katsuya
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Furuki
authors.forename: Satoru
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Okamoto
authors.forename: Hirohiko
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ukai
authors.forename: Masayuki
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ikeda
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000397:Air Pollution / Q000032:analysis*; D002104:Cadmium / Q000652:urine*; D004781:Environmental Exposure / Q000032:analysis*; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods*; D062665:Epidemiological Monitoring; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan / Q000453:epidemiology; D007854:Lead / Q000652:urine*; D008875:Middle Aged; D012016:Reference Values; D013054:Spectrophotometry, Atomic; D013997:Time Factors; D016387:Women's Health
chemical_list: D002104:Cadmium; D007854:Lead