Medición del contenido del cobre en especímenes biológicos / Measurement of copper content in biological specimens

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Blood lead and cadmium levels in a six hospital employee population. PESA study, 2009.

INTRODUCTION: Exposure to lead and cadmium is a public health problem due to the broad exposure to these toxic substances among the general population. The objective of this study is to determine blood lead and cadmium concentrations in a working population drawn from six university hospitals in Madrid, Getafe, Cartagena, Santiago de Compostela, Santander and Palma de Mallorca (Spain) and to identify associated factors. MATERIALS AND METHODS: 951 individuals participated in the study and were administered the standardized PESA® questionnaire regarding exposure to lead and cadmium. The blood lead and cadmium concentrations were measured by electrothermal atomization atomic absorption spectrometry with Zeeman background correction in Perkin-Elmer spectrometers, guaranteeing the transferability of the results. RESULTS: The median overall blood lead concentration was: 1.6 µg/dL (IQR: 0.9-2.7) and that of cadmium was: 0.21 µg/L (IQR: 0.10-0.50). There were significant differences in lead levels between men (2 µg/dL) and women (1.5 µg/dL), postmenopausal (2.6 µg/dL) and premenopausal women (1.1 µg/dL), and between participants who cooked in earthenware (2.1 µg/dL) and those who did not (1.5 µg/dL). The median of cadmium in women (0.24 µg/L) was higher than in men (0.11 µg/L) and was also higher in subjects who smoked (0.70 µg/L) than in non-smokers (0.13 µg/L). CONCLUSIONS: A reduction in blood lead and cadmium levels was observed with respect to previous studies carried out in Spain. Nevertheless, the results suggest there are certain factors which increase risk such as age, gender, menopause, age of housing, cooking in lead-glazed earthenware and exposure to cigarette smoke.

Determinación de plomo y cadmio en sangre y su relación con fuentes de exposición. Estudio PESA, 2008 / Blood lead and cadmium levels and sources of exposure. PESA study, 2008

Introducción. La exposición al plomo y al cadmio es un problema de salud pública debido a la amplia exposición a estos tóxicos en la población general. El objetivo del estudio es determinar la concentración de plomo y cadmio en sangre en una población laboral procedente de 4 centros hospitalarios universitarios de Madrid, Getafe, Cartagena y Santiago de Compostela e identificar los factores asociados. Material y métodos. En el estudio participaron 252 sujetos a los que se les administró el cuestionario estandarizado PESA® de exposición al plomo y al cadmio. La concentración de plomo y cadmio en sangre se midió por espectrometría de absorción atómica con atomización electrotérmica y corrección de fondo por efecto Zeeman en espectrómetros Perkin-Elmer; se garantizó la transferibilidad de los resultados. Resultados. La mediana de la concentración global de plomo en sangre fue de 2,0μg/dl (rango intercuartílico [RIC]: 1,2–3,1) y la de cadmio fue de 0,2μg/l (RIC: 0,1–0,4). La mediana de plomo en las mujeres menopáusicas fue superior (2,9μg/dl) a la de las mujeres premenopáusicas (1,3μg/dl) (p<0,001). La mediana de cadmio de los sujetos fumadores (0,54μg/l) fue mayor que la de los sujetos no fumadores (0,21μg/l) (p<0,001). Conclusiones. Se observa un descenso en las concentraciones de plomo y cadmio en sangre respecto a estudios previos realizados en España. Sin embargo, los resultados sugieren que existen factores de mayor riesgo, como la edad, la menopausia, la antigüedad de la vivienda y la exposición al humo de tabaco (AU)

Introduction. Exposure to lead and cadmium is a public health problem owing to the wide exposure to these toxic substances among the general population. The objective of this study is to determine blood lead and cadmium concentrations in a working population drawn from four university hospitals in Madrid, Getafe, Cartagena and Santiago de Compostela, and to identify associated factors. Materials and Methods. A total of 252 subjects took part in the study and were given the standardised PESA® questionnaire on exposure to lead and cadmium. The blood lead and cadmium concentrations were measured by electrothermal atomization atomic absorption spectrometry with Zeeman background correction in Perkin-Elmer spectrometers, guaranteeing the transferability of the results. Results. The median overall blood lead concentration was: 2.0μg/dL ( Interquartile Range (IQR):1.2–3.1) and that of cadmium was: 0.2μg/L (IQR: 0,1–0,4). The median of lead in post-menopausal women was higher (2.9μg/dL) than that of pre-menopausal women (1.3μg/dL) P<0.001. The median of cadmium in subjects who smoked (0.54μg/L) was higher than that in non-smokers (0.21μg/L) P<0.001. Conclusions. A reduction in blood lead and cadmium levels was observed with respect to previous studies carried out in Spain. Nevertheless, the results suggest there are certain factors which increase the risk, such as age, menopause, age of housing and exposure to cigarette smoke (AU)

Estimation of precision and inaccuracy for serum magnesium determination on the basis of interlaboratory comparison data Accreditation ISO 15189.

Serum Mg is an important biochemical parameter in the context of clinical medicine for monitoring patients and for helping to diagnose some pathologies. The clinical laboratories must offer analytical results of quality in all parameters determined, demonstrating this way the laboratory "skill competence". The aim of this study was to revalidate (ISO 15189 standard) some different colorimetric methods for Mg determination in serum used in clinical and/or biochemical laboratories in four hospitals in Spain, on the basis of results of interlaboratory comparison programmes: Bio-Rad EQAS and external quality control SEQC. Precision and inaccuracy were estimated by analysis of records of an external quality control programme for Mg. The precision and inaccuracy values obtained were both less than 10%, except in one hospital in which the precision was less than 15%. These values of precision and inaccuracy obtained may be considered highly satisfactory taking into account the validation requirement for these ones: less than 10%. These findings demonstrate the effectiveness of the new revalidation methodology for diagnostic methods in medicine, which does not require any disruption of the laboratory's routine activity and which can be used even if the method in question has not been validated previously. It is also suggested that the ideas and requirements of ISO 15189 should be followed by the research laboratories.