Determination of Some Metal Ions in Blood by AAS and Assessment of Their Toxicity in Exudative Lung Disorder Patients
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.33736/jaspe.9480.2025Abstract
Metal-induced respiratory diseases are not well documented in Bangladesh. The objective of this study is to assess metal toxicity in terms of concentration levels in exudative lung disorder patients. After acid digestion of blood collected from exudative lung disorder patients, the concentration of eight elements (Cd, Cr, Cu, Pb, Mn, Ni, Fe and Zn) was measured using AAS. The age of the exudative lung disorder patients of both genders ranged from 20 to 75 years, living in urban and rural areas from 11 districts of the Chittagong division. Patients were categorized into three groups: smokers, nonsmokers and former smokers. The role of smoking in the metal toxicity of exudative lung disorder patients was also investigated. Blood samples were collected from healthy persons aged 20-35 years. They were used as a control to compare the metal status of patients. It is shown that current smokers with lung diseases have lower Zn levels in their blood than the patients of former smokers. Linear regression analysis for Ni and Fe in the blood of smokers showed a significant correlation between Fe and Ni at p=0.008 and p=0.003. Correlation of Mn was insignificant at p=0.371, which clearly indicates that smoking may not be a probable factor for increasing Mn in blood. But the level of Fe and Mn in the blood of nonsmokers showed a strong and positive correlation with the coefficient value of 0.814 (p<0.001). The investigation showed that metal toxicity is caused more by breathing polluted air from fuel combustion in industries and vehicles than by smoking.
References
Duwiejuah, A. B., Cobbina, S. J., & Bakobie, N. (2017). Review of eco-friendly biochar used in the removal of trace metals on aqueous phases. International Journal of Environmental Bioremediation & Biodegradation, 5(2), 27-40. DOI:10.12691/ijebb-5-2-1
Ahmad, I., Srivastava, V. K., Prasad, R., Yusuf, M., & Saleem, M. (2011). Deficiency of micronutrient status in pulmonary tuberculosis patients in North India. Biomedical research, 22(4), 449-459.
Bisetti, A. A. (1988). Bernardino Ramazzini and occupational lung medicine. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 534(1), 1029-1037. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1749-6632.1988.tb30193.x
Kim, H. S., Kim, Y. J., & Seo, Y. R. (2015). An overview of carcinogenic heavy metal: molecular toxicity mechanism and prevention. Journal of Cancer Prevention, 20(4), 232-240. https://doi.org/10.15430/JCP.2015.20.4.232
Hecht, S. S. (2003). Tobacco carcinogens, their biomarkers and tobacco-induced cancer. Nature Reviews Cancer, 3(10), 733-744. https://doi.org/10.1038/nrc1190
European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) (2009). Cadmium in food-Scientific opinion of the panel on contaminants in the food chain. The EFSA Journal, 980, 1-139. https://doi.org/10.2903/j.efsa.2009.980
WHO (1991) Environmental Health Criteria 108: Nickel. International Programme on Chemical Safety. World Health Organization.
Brera, S., & Nicolini, A. (2005). Respiratory manifestations due to nickel. Acta otorhinolaryngologica italica, 25(2), 113-115. PMID: 16116834; PMCID: PMC2639879.
Raithel, H. J., Schaller, K. H., Reith, A., Svenes, K. B., & Valentine, H. (1988). Investigations on the quantitative determination of nickel and chromium in human lung tissue: Industrial medical, toxicological, and occupational medical expertise aspects. International archives of occupational and environmental health, 60(1), 55-66. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00409380
Cadet, J. L., & Bolla, K. I. (2006). Environmental toxins and disorders of the nervous system. In Neurology and Clinical Neuroscience: Text with CD-ROM (pp. 1477-1488). Elsevier. DOI: 10.1016/B978-0-323-03354-1.50115-2
Gould, E. (2005). Children’s lead poisoning and asthma. Econ Policy Inst Working Paper, 9. https://www.epi.org/publication/wp-gould-asthma/
Fulladosa, E., Desjardin, V., Murat, J. C., Gourdon, R., & Villaescusa, I. (2006). Cr (VI) reduction into Cr (III) as a mechanism to explain the low sensitivity of Vibrio fischeri bioassay to detect chromium pollution. Chemosphere, 65(4), 644-650. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2006.01.069
Pappas R.S. (2011) Toxic Elements in Tobacco and in Cigarette Smoke: Inflammation and Sensitization, Metallomics. 3(11): 1181–1198. doi: 10.1039/c1mt00066g
Iakovidis, I., Delimaris, I., & Piperakis, S. M. (2011). Copper and its complexes in medicine: a biochemical approach. Molecular biology international, 2011(1), 594529. https://doi.org/10.4061/2011/594529
Daniel, K. G., Gupta, P., Harbach, R. H., Guida, W. C., & Dou, Q. P. (2004). Organic copper complexes as a new class of proteasome inhibitors and apoptosis inducers in human cancer cells. Biochemical pharmacology, 67(6), 1139-1151. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bcp.2003.10.031
Porchia, M., Benetollo, F., Refosco, F., Tisato, F., Marzano, C., & Gandin, V. (2009). Synthesis and structural characterization of copper (I) complexes bearing N-methyl-1, 3, 5-triaza-7-phosphaadamantane (mPTA): Cytotoxic activity evaluation of a series of water soluble Cu (I) derivatives containing PTA, PTAH and mPTA ligands. Journal of Inorganic Biochemistry, 103(12), 1644-1651. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jinorgbio.2009.09.005
Bárány, E., Bergdahl, I. A., Bratteby, L. E., Lundh, T., Samuelson, G., Schütz, A., Skerfving, S. & Oskarsson, A. (2002). Trace elements in blood and serum of Swedish adolescents: relation to gender, age, residential area, and socioeconomic status. Environmental Research, 89(1), 72-84. https://doi.org/10.1006/enrs.2002.4351
Sarita, P., Raju, G. N., Kumar, M. R., Pradeep, A. S., & Reddy, S. B. (2013). Analysis of blood serum of lung cancer patients using particle induced X-ray emission. Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry, 297(3), 431-436. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10967-012-2398-2
Ho, E., Courtemanche, C., & Ames, B. N. (2003). Zinc deficiency induces oxidative DNA damage and increases p53 expression in human lung fibroblasts. The Journal of nutrition, 133(8), 2543-2548. https://doi.org/10.1093/jn/133.8.2543
Ali, M. K., Kim, R. Y., Brown, A.C., Mayall J. R., Karim, R., Pinkerton, J. W., Liu, G., Martin, K. L., Starkey, M. R., Pillar, A., Donovan, C., P. S. Pathinayake, O. R. Carroll, D. Trinder, Hock L. Tay, Y. E. Badi, N. Z. Kermani, Yi-KeGuo, R. Aryal, S. Mumby, S. Pavlidis, Ian M. Adcock, J. Weaver, D. Xenaki, B. G. Oliver, Elizabeth G. Holliday, P.S. Foster, Peter A. Wark, D. M. Johnstone, E. A. Milward, P. M. Hansbro & Jay C. Horvat, J.C. (2020). Crucial role for lung iron level and regulation in the pathogenesis and severity of asthma. European Respiratory Journal, 55(4), 1901340. https://doi.org/10.1183/13993003.01340-2019
Antonini, J. M., Santamaria, A. B., Jenkins, N. T., Albini, E., & Lucchini, R. (2006). Fate of manganese associated with the inhalation of welding fumes: potential neurological effects. Neurotoxicology, 27(3), 304-310. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuro.2005.09.001
Zimmer, A. T., & Biswas, P. (2001). Characterization of the aerosols resulting from arc welding processes. Journal of Aerosol Science, 32(8), 993-1008.
Tjälve, H., & Henriksson, J. (1999). Uptake of metals in the brain via olfactory pathways. Neurotoxicology, 20(2-3), 181-195. PMID: 10385882.
Milatovic, D., Gupta, R. C., Yin, Z., Zaja-Milatovic, S., & Aschner, M. (2017). Manganese. In Reproductive and Developmental Toxicology (pp 567-581), Academic Press..https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-804239-7.00032-9
. Bowen, R. A., & Remaley, A. T. (2014). Interferences from blood collection tube components on clinical chemistry assays. Biochemia medica, 24(1), 31-44. https://doi.org/10.11613/BM.2014.006
National Committee for National Clinical Laboratory Standards NCCLS Tubes and additives for venous blood specimens 5th edition H1-A5 NCCLS: Pensylvannia USA 2003.
Yahaya, M. I., Shehu, A., & Dabai, F. G. (2013). Efficiency of extraction of trace metals from blood samples using wet digestion and microwave digestion techniques. Journal of Applied Sciences and Environmental Management, 17(3), 365-369. https://doi.org/10.4314/jasem.v17i3.4
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The Health Consequences of Smoking—50 Years of Progress: A Report of the Surgeon General. Atlanta: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Office on Smoking and Health, 2014 [accessed 2017 Apr 20].
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. How Tobacco Smoke Causes Disease: What It Means to You. Atlanta: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Office on Smoking and Health, 2010. [accessed 2017 Apr 20].
Cohen, J. (1988). Statistical Power Analysis for the Behavioral Sciences, 2nd Ed. New York: Routledge.
Jomova, K., Alomar, S. Y., Nepovimova, E., Kuca, K., & Valko, M. (2025). Heavy metals: toxicity and human health effects. Archives of toxicology, 99(1), 153-209. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00204-024-03903-2
Nemery, B. (1990). Metal toxicity and the respiratory tract. European Respiratory Journal, 3(2), 202-219. https://doi.org/10.1183/09031936.93.03020202
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 UNIMAS Publisher

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Copyright Transfer Statement for Journal
1) In signing this statement, the author(s) grant UNIMAS Publisher an exclusive license to publish their original research papers. The author(s) also grant UNIMAS Publisher permission to reproduce, recreate, translate, extract or summarize, and to distribute and display in any forms, formats, and media. The author(s) can reuse their papers in their future printed work without first requiring permission from UNIMAS Publisher, provided that the author(s) acknowledge and reference publication in the Journal.
2) For open access articles, the author(s) agree that their articles published under UNIMAS Publisher are distributed under the terms of the CC-BY-NC-SA (Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-Share Alike 4.0 International License) which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, for non-commercial purposes, provided the original work of the author(s) is properly cited.
3) For subscription articles, the author(s) agree that UNIMAS Publisher holds copyright, or an exclusive license to publish. Readers or users may view, download, print, and copy the content, for academic purposes, subject to the following conditions of use: (a) any reuse of materials is subject to permission from UNIMAS Publisher; (b) archived materials may only be used for academic research; (c) archived materials may not be used for commercial purposes, which include but not limited to monetary compensation by means of sale, resale, license, transfer of copyright, loan, etc.; and (d) archived materials may not be re-published in any part, either in print or online.
4) The author(s) is/are responsible to ensure his or her or their submitted work is original and does not infringe any existing copyright, trademark, patent, statutory right, or propriety right of others. Corresponding author(s) has (have) obtained permission from all co-authors prior to submission to the journal. Upon submission of the manuscript, the author(s) agree that no similar work has been or will be submitted or published elsewhere in any language. If submitted manuscript includes materials from others, the authors have obtained the permission from the copyright owners.
5) In signing this statement, the author(s) declare(s) that the researches in which they have conducted are in compliance with the current laws of the respective country and UNIMAS Journal Publication Ethics Policy. Any experimentation or research involving human or the use of animal samples must obtain approval from Human or Animal Ethics Committee in their respective institutions. The author(s) agree and understand that UNIMAS Publisher is not responsible for any compensational claims or failure caused by the author(s) in fulfilling the above-mentioned requirements. The author(s) must accept the responsibility for releasing their materials upon request by Chief Editor or UNIMAS Publisher.
6) The author(s) should have participated sufficiently in the work and ensured the appropriateness of the content of the article. The author(s) should also agree that he or she has no commercial attachments (e.g. patent or license arrangement, equity interest, consultancies, etc.) that might pose any conflict of interest with the submitted manuscript. The author(s) also agree to make any relevant materials and data available upon request by the editor or UNIMAS Publisher.
To download Copyright Transfer Statement for Journal, click here
