Persigehl M, Kasperek K, Klein H J, Feinen-Degen L E
Beitr Pathol. 1976 May;157(3):260-8.
People who spend their entire lives in highly industrialized regions are in danger of accumulating trace elements by inhalation as a result of the increased amounts of factory-produced smoke. In order to test the environmentally accumulated trace elements in lungs, lung samples of patients who lived their entire lives in the industrial area of Duisburg were compared with those of patients from the less industrialized areas of Cologne and surroundings.
Five patients were studied who lived in Duisburg and died at 50-68 years but not primarily as a result of lung diseases. From each patient five samples of the left lung were removed at autopsy. Lungs from 18 patients who died in Cologne were also examined. From each of the latter 2 samples were removed from the left lung. All samples were studied by means of neutron activation analysis and the following elements analysed: Co, Fe, Rb, Se, Cr, Cs, Sb, Sc, Zn and Al. The Al-concentration was analysed only in patients aged 50-68 years.
The values of the non-essential Sc, Al and Cs and of the essential trace elements Co were found to be appreciably higher in the samples from Duisburg than in those from Cologne. Sc in the samples from the highly industrialized area was increased up to a factor of 100, Cs, Al and Co to a factor of 10. In the lungs of adults in Duisburg, aged 50-68 years, the concentration of Sc was more than 1,000 times greater than in lungs of children in Cologne, aged 0-10 years. In all samples from Duisburg, the rare element Eu was detectable by means of neutron activation analysis but could not be detected in a sample from Cologne.
It is likely that the different uptakes of trace elements in the lungs depend on correspondingly different concentrations of the elements in the air. The extensive accumulation, especially of the non-essential elements, in the lungs should be an incentive to examine possible detrimental effects on human health in the future. The element Sc which was strikingly accumulated in the lungs and which can be easily measured by neutron activation analysis might be used as a standard for estimating the extent of environmental pollution.
终生生活在高度工业化地区的人们，由于工厂生产的烟雾量增加，有通过吸入而累积微量元素的风险。为了检测肺部环境累积的微量元素，将终生生活在杜伊斯堡工业区的患者的肺样本与来自工业化程度较低的科隆及其周边地区的患者的肺样本进行了比较。
对5名居住在杜伊斯堡、50至68岁死亡且并非主要死于肺部疾病的患者进行了研究。尸检时从每位患者的左肺取出5个样本。还检查了18名在科隆死亡患者的肺。从后者每人的左肺取出2个样本。所有样本均通过中子活化分析进行研究，并分析了以下元素：钴、铁、铷、硒、铬、铯、锑、钪、锌和铝。仅对50至68岁的患者分析了铝浓度。
发现杜伊斯堡样本中非必需元素钪、铝和铯以及必需微量元素钴的值明显高于科隆样本。高度工业化地区样本中的钪增加了100倍，铯、铝和钴增加了10倍。在杜伊斯堡50至68岁成年人的肺中，钪的浓度比科隆0至10岁儿童肺中的浓度高1000多倍。在杜伊斯堡的所有样本中，通过中子活化分析可检测到稀有元素铕，但在科隆的一个样本中未检测到。
肺部微量元素的不同摄取量可能取决于空气中相应元素的不同浓度。肺部尤其是非必需元素的大量累积，应促使人们今后研究其对人类健康可能产生的有害影响。在肺部显著累积且可通过中子活化分析轻松测量的钪元素，可用作估计环境污染程度的标准。
