Comparison of urine toxic metals concentrations in athletes and in sedentary subjects living in the same area of Extremadura (Spain)

• Published in: European journal of applied physiology Vol. 112; no. 8; pp. 3027 - 3031
• Main Authors: LLerena, F., Maynar, M., Barrientos, G., Palomo, R., Robles, M. C., Caballero, M. J.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer-Verlag 01-08-2012; Springer; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Anthropometry; Athletes; Beryllium - toxicity; Beryllium - urine; Biological and medical sciences; Biomarkers - urine; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Biomedicine; Body Composition; Body fat; Body Mass Index; Cadmium - toxicity; Cadmium - urine; Dietary minerals; Environment; Environmental Pollutants - toxicity; Environmental Pollutants - urine; Exercise; Feeding Behavior; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Heart rate; Heavy metals; Human Physiology; Humans; Lead; Lead - toxicity; Lead - urine; Male; Mass Spectrometry - standards; Metabolism; Metals - toxicity; Metals - urine; Occupational Medicine/Industrial Medicine; Original Article; Oxidative stress; Physical fitness; Reference Standards; Reproducibility of Results; Residence Characteristics; Running; Sedentary Lifestyle; Spain; Sports Medicine; Tellurium - toxicity; Tellurium - urine; Toxicity; Trace elements; Tungsten - toxicity; Tungsten - urine; Urine; Vertebrates: body movement. Posture. Locomotion. Flight. Swimming. Physical exercise. Rest. Sports; Young Adult; Spain; Urine; Sport; Toxic trace elements; Human; Trace element; Athlete
• ISSN: 1439-6319; 1439-6327
• DOI: 10.1007/s00421-011-2276-6

Cadmium (Cd), tungsten (W), tellurium (Te), beryllium (Be), and lead (Pb), are non-essential metals pervasive in the human environment. Studies on athletes during training periods compared to non-training control subjects, indicate increased loss of minerals through sweat and urine. The aim of this study was to compare the level of these trace elements, determined by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) in urine samples, between athletes and age-matched sedentary subjects living in the same geographical area, although anthropometric and cardiovascular measurements showed that athletes have significantly (
P
 ≤ 0.001) lower BMI, body fat and heart rate, whereas the muscle and bone percentage was significantly (
P
 ≤ 0.001) higher than in sedentary subjects. The validity of the methodology was checked by the biological certified reference material. Trace element analysis concentrations, expressed in μg/mg creatinine, of five toxic elements in urine from athletes (
n
 = 21) versus sedentary subjects, (
n
 = 26) were as follows: Cd (0.123 ± 0.075 vs
.
0.069 ± 0.041,
P
 ≤ 0.05); W (0.082 ± 0.053 vs
.
 < limit of detection); Te (0.244 ± 0.193 vs. 0.066 ± 0.045,
P
 ≤ 0.001), Be (0.536 ± 0.244 vs
.
0.066 ± 0.035,
P
 ≤ 0.001); Pb (0.938 ± 0.664 vs
.
2.162 ± 1.444
P
 ≤ 0.001). With the exception of Pb, urine toxic metal concentrations from athletes were higher than from sedentary subjects. This fact suggests that physical activity counteracts, at least in part, the cumulative effect of toxic environment by increasing the urine excretion of toxic metals in trained people.