China 
Africa 
Explore chapters and articles related to this topic
Toxic Metal Removal Using Microbial Nanotechnology
Published in Mahendra Rai, Patrycja Golińska, Microbial Nanotechnology, 2020
In spite of Fe being an essential component for hemoglobin, a higher level of Fe poses a toxic threat as excess Fe is deposited in the cells of various organs and tissues, including liver, pancreas, heart, endocrine glands, skin, and joints. This may lead to severe clinical damage such as micronodular cirrhosis of the liver, atrophy of pancreas, hepatocellular liver failure, diabetes mellitus, arthritis, cardiac dysfunction, and even hypogonadism. On the other hand, secondary Fe overload is a result of disorders of erythropoiesis and chronic liver disease where excessive dietary Fe absorption and tissue deposition is observed. Fe-loading associated with refractory anemia with hypercellular bone marrow and ineffective erythropoiesis may also include severe conditions like thalassemia and sideroblastic anemia. Eventually, Fe overload leads to oxidative stress and ROS-mediated damage to lipids, proteins, carbohydrates, and DNA. Further, Fe overload leads to acquired lysosomal storage disease and may lead to damage of hepatic mitochondria, endoplasmic reticulum, and plasma membrane (Britton et al. 2002).
Health risk assessment of PM2.5 and PM2.5-bound trace elements in Pretoria, South Africa
Published in Journal of Environmental Science and Health, Part A, 2023
Chantelle Howlett-Downing, Johan Boman, Peter Molnár, Joyce Shirinde, Janine Wichmann
The health effects due to chronic exposure to Mn include cardiac and liver disfunction, permanent neurodegenerative disorder, decreased fertility, and increased fetal abnormalities.[30] Long-term excessive Cr(III) intake reduces fertility in women, and Zn causes sideroblastic anemia, hypochromic microcytic anemia, leukopenia, lymphadenopathy, neutropenia, hypocupraemia, and hypoferremia.[31] Chronic ingestion of high doses of Cu leads to liver cirrhosis, neurological abnormalities, hemolytic anemia, and decline in memory and cognition; Cd affects the gastrointestinal, liver, heart, kidney, and reproductive system.[31] Skin contact with certain Cr(III) and Ni compounds can cause allergic reactions.[32]
Serum concentration of toxic metals and rare earth elements in children and adolescent
Published in International Journal of Environmental Health Research, 2020
Laura Gaman, Corina Elena Delia, Octavio P. Luzardo, Manuel Zumbado, Mihaela Badea, Irina Stoian, Marilena Gilca, Luis D. Boada, Luis Alberto Henríquez-Hernández
Data from blood analyzes included values associated with the red series and other biochemical data (Table 1). The majority of the values were in the normal range, including cholesterol, triglycerides, red blood cells (RBC), hemoglobin (HGB), hematocrit (HCT) and platelet count (PLT). The statistics did not reveal any gender differences (Table 1). A total of eight children (8.9%) suffered anemia, defined as HGB ˂ 11 g/dL and/or HCT ˂ 31%. Globally, 24.8% of the population suffer from anemia, and this proportion is 22.9% in Europe (WHO 2008). The highest prevalence is observed in preschool-age children (0.0–4.9 years old), showing 26.5% prevalence of anemia among European children (WHO 2008). This trend was observed in our series: mean age of the children with anemia was significantly lower than that of the children without anemia (28.0 months vs. 91.9 months, i.e.2.3 years vs. 7.7 years old, respectively; Student’s t-test, P-value ˂ 0.001; Data not shown). Although our data showed a lower prevalence of anemia than the worldwide data, a total of 68 children (76.4%) showed mean corpuscular hemoglobin (MCH) lower than reference values (Table 1). This finding suggests a high prevalence of hypochromic anemia (Ali 1976). As serum deficiency of iron or copper had to be discarded as the cause of hypochromic anemia (Table 2), it must be attributed to other causes: hemoglobinopathies (i.e. thalassemia), disorders of heme synthesis caused by a chemical (i.e. lead), sideroblastic anemia, chronic infections or other inflammatory states, malignancies, among others (Lanzkowsky 2016). This observation is significant because, according to the WHO, in Romania anemia has to be considered as a moderate public health problem among preschool-age children (prevalence of anemia ranged from 20 to 39.9%) (WHO 2008).