The Relationship of Dietary Heavy Metal Intake with Serum Trace Elements in College Women Living in Choong-Nam Area

The purpose of this study was to study the intake of heavy metals such af arsenic, lead and cobalt and the relationship of dietary heavy metals with serum iron, topper, and zinc, which play important roles in hematopoiesis, in healthy college women living in Choongnam Korea, where we have detected heavy metals (As, Pb, Co) in some marine products in previous studies. The nutritional status of the subjects (35 women) was evaluated by anthropometric measurements, 24-hr dietary recall for 3 days. And 3-day diets (by weighing method) and blood were collected to analyze As, Pb, Co, Fe, Cu, Zn, Hb, Hct, and MCHC. The mean age, height, weight, and BMI were 20 years, 158 cm, 55 kg and 22.42 kg/$m^2$, respectively. The mean daily energy intake was 85.85% of RDA for Koreans. The ratio of energy from carbohydrate, protein, and fat was 60 : 24 : 16. The mean daily intake of heavy metals (As, Pb, Co) was 1.77 mg/day, 75.21 $\mu$g/day and 21.12 $\mu$g/day. And the mean daily intake of iron, copper, and Zinc concentrations were 97, 68, and 92% of normal values. The mean serum heavy metals (As, Pb, Co) were 16.14 $\mu$g/dl, 4.32 $\mu\textrm{g}$/dl and 0.02 $\mu$g/dr, respectively Mean blood levels of Fe, Cu, Zn, Hb, Hct, and MCHC were at normal levels. Dietary heavy metals except Co were not significantly different from serum Fe, Cu, Zn and Hb, Hct, and MCHC. However, there was a tendency toward lower serum concentration of Fe, Hb, Hct, and MCHC in the subjects with higher heavy metals (As) intake. Among heavy metals, only dietary Co showed a significant negative correlation with Hb (p< 0.001) and Hct (p < 0.001).