Non-occupational lead and cadmium exposure of adult women in Bangkok, Thailand

This survey was conducted tb examine the extent of the exposure of Bangkok citizens to lead (Pb) and cadmium (Cd), and to evaluate the role of rice as the source of these heavy metals. In practice, 52 non-smoking adult women in an institution in the vicinity of Bangkok, volunteered to offer blood, s pot urine, boiled rice and 24-h total food duplicate samples. Samples were wet-ashed, and then analyzed for Pb and Cd by ICP-MS. Geometric means for t he levels in blood (Pb-B and Cd-B) and urine (Pb-U and Cd-U as corrected fo r creatinine concentration), and also for dietary intake (Pb-F and Cd-F) we re 32.3 mu g/l for Pb-B, 0.41 mu g/l for Cd-B, 2.06 mu g/g creatinine for P b-U, 1.40 mu g/g creatinine for Cd-U, 15.1 mu g/day for Pb-F and 7.1 mu g/d ay for Cd-F. Rice contributed 30% and 4% of dietary Cd and Pb burden, respe ctively. When compared with the counterpart values obtained in four neighbo ring cities in southeast Asia (i.e. Nanning, Tainan, Manila, and Kuala Lump ur), dietary Pb burden of the women in Bangkok was middle in the order amon g the values for the five cities. Pb level in the blood was the lowest of t he levels among the five cities and Pb in urine was also among the low grou p. This apparent discrepancy in the order between Pb-B (i.e. the fifth) and Pb-F (the third) might be attributable to recent reduction of Pb levels in the atmosphere in Bangkok. Regarding Cd exposure, Cd levels in blood and u rine as well as dietary Cd burden of Bangkok women were either the lowest o r the next lowest among those in the five cities. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.