ACCUMULATION OF MERCURY IN WOMEN IN RELATION AGE AND STATE OF HEALTH

Abstract

Considerable concentration of mercury in the tissue is a factor which may also lead to disorders in the antioxidant barrier – another factor which is conducive to the formation and development of cancer. The aim of the study was to determine the content of mercury both in cancerous and healthy women in relation age and state of health.
The samples coming from women were divided suitably into 2 age classes: <50 years and >50 years. The content of mercury in the samples was measured using CVAAS. This method enabled us to conduct the precise measurement directly in the tissue. The fragments of esophagus, stomach, small intestine, large intestine, liver, pancreas, kidney, bladder and skin tissues (healthy tissues) and stomach, large intestine, kidney and bladder (cancerous tissues), were placed in a special crucible directly after defrosting and weighing. The measurement was repeated three times for each sample.
The average content of mercury was almost identical comparing cancerous tissues of women from both age classes (0.037 ppm and 0.036 ppm). In healthy >50 years old women the average content of mercury was significantly higher (0.008 ppm) comparing to healthy woman <50 years old (0.0002 ppm).