Department of Biochemistry Rafsanjan Branch, Islamic Azad University, Rafsanjan, Iran.
Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Occupational Environment Research Center, Medical School, Rafsanjan University of Medical Sciences, Rafsanjan, Iran.
Environ Monit Assess. 2024 Oct 31;196(11):1144. doi: 10.1007/s10661-024-13325-3.
Suicide, as an avoidable cause of death in public health systems, currently lacks effective global strategies to prevent it. However, several epidemiological studies found a correlation between the concentration of lithium (Li) in drinking water and lower suicide rates in the general population. Our ecological study investigated this hypothesis in the Rafsanjan district of Iran. Samples from the public water supply in 16 areas in the district were analyzed using the graphite furnace atomic absorption. The resulting data were examined in relation to the suicide attempt from March 2019 to March 2020 obtained from Iran's Ministry of Health's registration system. During that period, 239 suicide attempts were recorded, resulting in an average of 69 individuals (85 women and 54 men) per 100,000 residents of the area. The average Li concentration in the drinking water was 47.30 µg/L (ranging from 9.4 to 141 µg/L). A negative significant correlation (r = -0.551, p = 0.027) between Li concentration in water and the rate of suicide attempt were observed in the studied population. Notably, these findings indicate an inverse significant relationship between Li levels and suicide attempt rate in women (r = -0.725, p = 0.001). This is the first study in Iran that examines the relationship between Li levels in drinking water and suicide attempt rate. The findings of this study support an inverse relationship between the level of Li in public drinking water and the rate of women suicide attempt.
自杀是公共卫生系统中可避免的死亡原因，目前缺乏有效的全球策略来预防自杀。然而，一些流行病学研究发现，饮用水中锂（Li）的浓度与一般人群中的自杀率之间存在相关性。我们在伊朗拉夫桑詹地区进行了这项生态学研究，分析了该地区 16 个地区公共供水样本中的锂浓度，使用石墨炉原子吸收法进行分析。将所得数据与 2019 年 3 月至 2020 年 3 月期间从伊朗卫生部登记系统获得的自杀企图进行了检查。在此期间，记录了 239 起自杀企图，导致该地区每 10 万人中有 69 人（85 名女性和 54 名男性）自杀。饮用水中的平均 Li 浓度为 47.30 µg/L（范围为 9.4 至 141 µg/L）。在研究人群中观察到饮用水中 Li 浓度与自杀企图率之间存在负显著相关性（r=-0.551，p=0.027）。值得注意的是，这些发现表明 Li 水平与女性自杀企图率之间存在显著负相关关系（r=-0.725，p=0.001）。这是伊朗首次研究饮用水中 Li 水平与自杀企图率之间的关系。本研究的结果支持公共饮用水中 Li 水平与女性自杀企图率之间的反比关系。
