Association between human exposure to heavy metals/metalloid and occurrences of respiratory diseases, lipid peroxidation and DNA damage in Kumasi, Ghana

Abstract

Heavy metals and metalloids contamination in soils, water, food and livers of wild rats have been studied in Kumasi, Ghana and despite the estimated risks to residents, there is no epidemiological study to ascertain these projections. In addition, the World Health Organization and International Agency for Research on Cancer have reported an increase in respiratory diseases and cancers, in Ghana. The study's purpose was therefore to explore the potential associations between metal exposure and occurrences of respiratory diseases, lipid peroxidation and/or DNA damage to different age groups and sexes in Kumasi. Human urine was collected from the general population in urban and control sites in Kumasi and nine metals were measured in each sample. Results showed that although Zn was the most abundant total urinary As concentration was higher in 83% of samples compared to reference values. Urinary concentrations of metals, malondialdehyde (MDA) and 8-hydroxy-2-deoxy-guanosine (8-OHdG) were higher in urban sites compared to the control site. Based on the results obtained, there was no significant correlation between urinary metals and age. However, urinary Cd and MDA were highest in age groups 61-85 and 3-20 years, respectively. Significantly higher levels of urinary Co, As and Cd were detected in female participants. The study revealed that exposure to As was significantly associated with increased odds of asthma (odds ratio (OR) = 2.76; CI: 1.11-6.83) and tachycardia (OR = 3.93; CI: 1.01-15.4). Significant association was observed between urinary metals and MDA and 8-OHdG indicating possibility of lipid peroxidation and/or DNA damage in Kumasi residents.

Associations of blood essential and toxic metal(loid)s with both disease severity and mortality in patients with COVID-19: a retrospective study

“…However, the arsenic, lead and thallium showed lower levels in whole blood of the severe cases than the non-severe cases, and the arsenic also showed a lower level in deceased cases than the recovered cases. These results were unexpected, as exposure to heavy metals was commonly reported to induces respiratory dysfunction and positively correlated with the occurrence of respiratory diseases [40].…”

Environmental Health Research in Africa: Important Progress and Promising Opportunities

“…A variety of biomarkers were incorporated into various studies, especially to monitor kidney injury or dysfunction (Samir and Aref, 2011;Cabral et al, 2012;Cabral et al, 2015). Some heavy metals' association with lipid peroxidation, DNA damage, oxidative stress, or apoptosis was assessed (El-Baz et al, 2015;Bortey-Sam et al, 2018) and the genotoxic impact of some occupational exposures was explored (El Shanawany et al, 2017).…”

The impact of environmental pollution on the quality of mother's milk

“…Exposure to arsenic during pregnancy is associated with the lower body of newborn child, weakening of cognitive functions, and even in extreme cases with fetal death (Carignan et al 2015 ). The cross-sectional research ( n = 190) revealed that exposure to arsenic can be associated with respiratory diseases such as asthma and with tachycardia (the detected concentrations of As were in the range of 36.6–82.7 μg/g creatinine) (Bortey-Sam et al 2018 ).

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