Accumulation of trace element content in the lungs of Sao Paulo city residents and its correlation to lifetime exposure to air pollution
Nathália Villa dos Santos, Carolina L. Zilli Vieira, Paulo Hilário Nascimento Saldiva, Carmen Diva Saldiva de André, B. P. Mazzilli, María de Fátima Andrade, C. H. R. Saueia, M. Saiki, Mariana Matera Veras, Petros Koutrakis
Abstract
Abstract Heavy metals are natural and essential elements of the environment and living beings, produced from natural (e.g. volcanic activity and cosmic ray-induced spallation) and anthropogenic processes (e.g. industrial and fossil fuel combustion). High-concentrations of heavy metals and radionuclides are also originated from anthropogenic activities in urban and industrial areas. In this preliminary study, we analyzed the levels of heavy metals and Polonium-210 ( 210 Po) in lung tissues in autopsies from residents of the city of Sao Paulo, SP, Brazil. In order to identify the link among sources of the heavy metals in lungs, factor analysis was performed. Of the first four factors, which explain 66% of the total variability, three were associated with vehicular sources. The fitting of a regression model with 210 Po as the response variable and with the four factors as explanatory variables, controlling for age, sex and tobacco, showed a significant association between the concentration of polonium and the first factor that is generated by catalysts and brakes (coefficient = 0.90, standard error = 0.33, p = 0.016). Our findings suggest an association between traffic-related trace metals and 210 Po in lung autopsies.