| Abstract: | Anthropogenic emissions, such as those from combustion of fossil fuel, waste incineration and industrial use, contribute to higher levels of metal pollutants, including Cd, Pb and Sb, in the urban environment. These widespread and persistent environmental pollutants have the potential for developmental and reproductive toxicity. Health risks are particularly associated with exposure in utero and the early years of life, since the developing organism is at greater risk from permanent damage, and both absorption and retention can be considerably greater in infants than adults. In order to assess risk to humans, the information on environmental levels of pollutants (environmental monitoring) should be integrated with information on biomarkers of exposure, effect or susceptibility in biological fluids or tissues (biological monitoring). The analysis of tissue from the target organ obtained at autopsy provides a direct record of the accumulation of toxins and allows temporal and geographical trends to be studied. Few literature reports on tissue content of potentially toxic elements include data on newborns and young children since collections of autopsy samples in this age range are rare. Existing data are sometime questionable, because of inadequate sensitivity of the analytical techniques, insufficient control of contamination and lack of validation. Our recent work aimed to establish reliable reference values for the content of Cd, Pb and Sb in the liver of pediatric subjects. |
