[The medicinal mineral waters in the southern part of the Tyumen region]. / Lechebnye mineral'nye vody iuga Tiumenskoi oblasti.

This article presents data concerning the natural medicinal resources in the southern part of the Tyumen region with special reference to the mineral water resources. The relevance of the work is determined by the presence of the huge deposits of medicinal sodium chloride and iodine-bromine thermal waters with the composition highly enriched in the trace elements suitable for the internal and external use and by the necessity of the assessment of their therapeutic value. The characteristics of the mineral waters of special interest are presented with the major emphasis placed on the chemical composition of sodium chloride waters used by the authors in the routine medical practice. The concrete results of the studiesdesigned to determine content of anions, cations, and trace elements in the water are reported. Taken together the high levels of iodine, bromine, and silica in mineral waters and their naturally high temperature provide a basis for their extensive and efficient application as a balneotherapeutic factor to be used for the purpose of the spa and health resort-based treatment and prophylaxis. Also, it opens up the prospects for the extension of the medical indications for the use of mineral waters the basis for further detailed study with a view to increasing medical evidence and taking into account regional particularities of natural iodine deficiency. Study of the action of trace elements of natural mineral waters taking into consideration the specific regional features of the territory in question, such as natural iodine deficiency. The study of the action of the microelements on the human organism in the cases of their combined application as well as the evaluation of their use for the prophylactic purposes constitutes an important scientific and practical problem.

The incidence of upper respiratory infections in children is related to the concentration of vanadium in indoor dust aggregates.

Background: It has been reported that the disease-initiated and disease-mediated effects of aerosol pollutants can be related to concentration, site of deposition, duration of exposure, as well as the specific chemical composition of pollutants. Objectives: To investigate the microelemental composition of dust aggregates in primary schools of Vilnius and determine trace elements related to acute upper respiratory infections among 6-to 11-year-old children. Methods: Microelemental analysis of aerosol pollution was performed using dust samples collected in the classrooms of 11 primary schools in Vilnius from 2016 to 2020. Sites included areas of its natural accumulation behind the radiator heaters and from the surface of high cupboards. The concentrations of heavy metals (Pb, W, Sb, Sn, Zr, Zn, Cu, Ni, Mn, Cr, V, and As) in dust samples were analyzed using a SPECTRO XEPOS spectrometer. The annual incidence rates of respiratory diseases in children of each school were calculated based on data from medical records. Results: The mean annual incidence of physician-diagnosed acute upper respiratory infections (J00-J06 according to ICD-10A) among younger school-age children was between 25.1 and 71.3% per school. A significant correlation was found between vanadium concentration and the number of episodes of acute upper respiratory infections during each study year from 2016 to 2020. The lowest was r = 0.67 (p = 0.024), and the highest was r = 0.82 (p = 0.002). The concentration of vanadium in the samples of dust aggregates varied from 12.7 to 52.1 parts per million (ppm). No significant correlations between the other trace elements and the incidence of upper respiratory infections were found, which could be caused by a small number of study schools and relatively low concentrations of other heavy metals found in the samples of indoor dust aggregates. Conclusion: A significant and replicable correlation was found between the concentration of vanadium in the samples of natural dust aggregates collected in primary schools and the incidence of acute upper respiratory infections in children. Monitoring the concentration of heavy metals in the indoor environment can be an important instrument for the prevention and control of respiratory morbidity in children.