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Cadmium and Other Metal Levels in Autopsy Samples from a Cadmium-Polluted Area and Non-polluted Control Areas in Japan

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Abstract

This study was initiated to examine accumulation of cadmium (Cd) and other metals in kidney and liver in autopsy samples and to compare the levels between those in an area with heavy Cd exposure and those in no-polluted areas in Japan. Data on Cd and other metals in kidney (cortex and medulla) and liver in 95 cases (87 women and eight men; the exposed) in a Cd-polluted area and 43 cases (21 women and 22 men; the controls) in non-polluted areas were cited from 15 previous publications to be summarized together with six unpublished cases. Cd levels in kidney cortex and medulla were significantly lower in the exposed (31.5 and 23.8 μg/g wet tissue as GM, respectively) than in the controls (82.7 and 36.4 μg/g, respectively), whereas Cd levels in liver was higher in the exposed (60.2 μg/g) than in the controls (8.1 μg/g). Exposed women had lower Cd in the cortex (29.9 μg/g) and medulla (22.7 μg/g) than exposed men (55.4 and 38.1 μg/g, respectively) as well as in cortex of control women (92.9 μg/g). Comparison with worldwide data other than Japan for non-exposed populations [19.1, 9.3, and 1.3 μg/g in cortex, medulla, and liver, respectively, as the inverse variance-weighted averages (IVWA) of GM values for each of 22 reports] suggests that the levels for the non-exposed Japanese (123.3, 33.5, and 3.9 μg/g as IVWA) tended to be higher than the levels in other countries, possibly reflecting high dietary Cd intake in the past.

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Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful to the administration and staff of Kyoto Industrial Health association for their interest in and support to this work.

Conflicts of Interest Statement

The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Public Health, Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine, Kobe, 650-0017, Japan

    Chiyo Hayashi & Hisahide Nishio

  2. Food Safety Commission, Cabinet Office, Government of Japan, Tokyo, 107-6122, Japan

    Naoko Koizumi

  3. School of Public Policy, George Mason University, Arlington, VA, 22201, USA

    Naoru Koizumi

  4. Kyoto Industrial Health Association, 67 Nishinokyo-Kitatsuboicho, Nakagyo-ku, Kyoto, 604-8472, Kyoto, Japan

    Masayuki Ikeda

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  1. Chiyo Hayashi
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  2. Naoko Koizumi
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Correspondence to Masayuki Ikeda.

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  Cadmium in the kidney and the liver in autopsy cases
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Hayashi, C., Koizumi, N., Nishio, H. et al. Cadmium and Other Metal Levels in Autopsy Samples from a Cadmium-Polluted Area and Non-polluted Control Areas in Japan. Biol Trace Elem Res 145, 10–22 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12011-011-9155-1

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