Uetani Mirei, Kobayashi Etsuko, Suwazono Yasushi, Honda Ryumon, Nishijo Muneko, Nakagawa Hideaki, Kido Teruhiko, Nogawa Koji
Department of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Graduate School of Medicine, Chiba University, 1-8-1 Inohana, Chiba, 260-8670, Japan.
Biometals. 2006 Oct;19(5):521-5. doi: 10.1007/s10534-005-5619-0.
There are more than 50 cadmium (Cd) polluted areas in Japan. The severest general environmental Cd polluted area in Japan was the Jinzu River basin in Toyama Prefecture where Itai-itai disease had been endemic. The present study aimed to compare organ Cd concentrations of inhabitants who had been exposed to different levels of environmental Cd and to clarify the health effects of the environmental Cd exposure in Japan. Since 1960 we have measured tissue Cd concentrations of inhabitants with a history of living in a different Cd polluted areas. Study population living in Cd polluted areas were 36 (1 male, 35 females) patients with Itai-itai disease, 20 (7 males, 13 females) subjects suspected of having Itai-itai disease, 8 (2 males, 6 females) inhabitants in Cd polluted areas other than the Jinzu River basin. Subjects who had lived in Cd non-polluted area were 72 inhabitants. Cd concentrations in liver, pancreas and thyroid of those living in Cd polluted areas were as high as those of patients with Itai-itai disease, and their Cd concentrations in renal cortex were as low as those of patients with Itai-itai disease. The present study demonstrated that tissue Cd concentrations of some inhabitants in Cd polluted areas other than Jinzu River basin are equal to those of the patients with Itai-itai disease and that patients with Itai-itai disease were present even in these areas.
日本有50多个镉（Cd）污染地区。日本最严重的一般环境镉污染地区是富山县的神通川流域，那里曾是痛痛病的流行地区。本研究旨在比较接触不同水平环境镉的居民的器官镉浓度，并阐明日本环境镉暴露对健康的影响。自1960年以来，我们测量了有在不同镉污染地区居住史的居民的组织镉浓度。居住在镉污染地区的研究对象包括36名（1名男性，35名女性）痛痛病患者、20名（7名男性，13名女性）疑似痛痛病患者、8名（2名男性，6名女性）居住在神通川流域以外镉污染地区的居民。居住在非镉污染地区的研究对象为72名居民。居住在镉污染地区的居民肝脏、胰腺和甲状腺中的镉浓度与痛痛病患者的浓度一样高，而他们肾皮质中的镉浓度与痛痛病患者的浓度一样低。本研究表明，神通川流域以外镉污染地区的一些居民的组织镉浓度与痛痛病患者的浓度相当，而且即使在这些地区也存在痛痛病患者。
